Neverending Heroes
by T. Costa
Summary: Cid once said that the planet was a child, crying out into the night. Now that same planet has outgrown the people who were once it's heroes. What are three remnants of the past to do in a world that does not need them? Lemon, Yuffentine. Complete.
1. Don't you think the joker laughs at you?

**Neverending Heroes**

_**Chapter One – Don't you think the joker laughs at you? **_

_I am he, as you are he  
As you are me, and we are all together_

-- The Beatles, _I Am The Walrus_

The world had outgrown them.

Vincent Valentine stood and watched over the bustling city of Nibelheim from his spot in Shinra Manor. It was the only building left from back then.

Eighty years had passed since the crisis of Meteor. Little towns were not little towns any longer, and now the story of Meteor and Sephiroth and the Shinra Electric Company's evil doings were nothing but legends, told to children during camping trips around a fire. Vincent had, at one point, had the manor restored, but it had been so long ago that the house was somewhat decrepit again.

He sighed and turned to his companion. "I'm amazed he lived as long as he did." He muttered. "What with the smoking and all." His lips turned up at the corners, but he was not really amused. "Especially after he lost Shera."

The other man nodded. His blond hair stood out among the drab trappings of a formal room. "Cid was ready to go. He missed her."

Vincent turned back to the window. "Tell me, Cloud. Do you miss Tifa?"

Cloud's eyes closed painfully. "More than I can say." It was a curse of theirs, a shared one; Hojo's experiments and mako injections and Jenova cells had given them eternal youth. They were forced to watch everyone they loved die, crumble into dust, while they didn't age a day. To be sure, they could be fatally injured; their heads could be cut off, they could be riddled with bullet holes. But they could not die a natural death like they so craved.

"That's the last one, then." Vincent said. "Other than Nanaki..." He chuckled harshly. "I daresay that he may outlive us."

"I can't confirm Yuffie or Reeve." Cloud pointed out. "Reeve went missing and no one had heard from Yuffie in...almost seventy years. She just took off from Wutai and never talked to anyone again. Her PHS bill is still being paid but it's automatic payments from her bank account."

"Reeve is dead." Vincent said, shortly. "The helicopter he and Rufus were using crashed. I found the remains about a year ago."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Cloud asked, angrily.

Vincent shook his head. "The thought had slipped my mind. I apologize." He sighed. "Well, my friend, let's stop dwelling on those who went before us. While starvation could end our suffering...I don't think I want to go out that way." He gestured for Cloud to precede him out the room and the two left, on the quest for food.

As they securely locked the door to the manor behind them, Cloud realized that Vincent had only confirmed Reeve's passing. He, too, was clueless about Yuffie.

Cloud hoped she'd died fighting.

**- - - - - **

Kiyoshi Kisaragi was the grandson of the famed Yuffie Kisaragi. Every day he lighted the joss sticks in her honor, hoping that some word would come of her – she was his hero. Only 16 years old, she had left her homeland and saved the world. They had never found her body after she left her husband so many years ago.

Because that was what had happened. Public record said that she had simply disappeared one day, shortly after giving birth to her only son, who was given her maiden name to continue the line. Kiyoshi knew the truth, for it was a dark Kisaragi secret, buried in the journals which had been entrusted to him when he became Lord of Wutai. _Her_journals.

Yuffie Kisaragi had been given to a brutal man. Gritting her teeth, she'd let the marriage occur, so she could provide Wutai with an heir. And then she left.

It hadn't been planned. One night he'd struck her and she'd broken his wrist in retaliation, and then she fled, knowing that divorce was not an option. Her son – Kiyoshi's father – only a year old then, had been left in the care of Yuffie's father, and was brought up in the traditions of Wutai.

Yuffie's husband had been put to death for daring to strike the White Rose of Wutai. Ostensibly it was because he was a drug trafficker, but Kiyoshi knew the truth. Godo Kisaragi had been incensed when he discovered what the man had been doing, and punished him.

_I hope he burns in hell. _Kiyoshi thought, lighting the last stick and placing it on the alter of his ancestors. One never hit a woman, especially a war hero like Yuffie.

Kiyoshi was young. He had been born late in his father's life, and because of that had taken the throne when only in his early twenties. He was almost thirty now, and it had been nearly seventy years since Yuffie had disappeared. They had never found any sign of her – her friends from the Meteor incident (which had been faithfully chronicled by Wutai's archivists) had not heard from her, and no body parts were found.

Kiyoshi mourned the lost connection with his past. Yuffie Kisaragi had been brave; brave to face the end of the world, three times, and brave to suffer through her husband's torment for the sake of Wutai. Kiyoshi hoped that, if she were in the afterlife, she was proud of him.

He squared his shoulders and left the temple, striding down the hallway with muffled thumps from his sock-clad feet. His wife, Shizuko, met him at the doorway with his shoes, bowing and giving him a kiss.

It was just another day in the management of Wutai. He tried not to let the distant past muddle his leadership, and he did a damn fine job of it.

Wutai had become quite the city in the past 80 years since Meteor. Most towns had blossomed outward, as well. Gaia was becoming crowded.

In fact, that was one of the things he was going to be dealing with today. Leaders from Nibelheim, Wutai, Corel, Junon and Edge (that great city that had replaced Midgar so many years ago) were meeting to discuss population control.

It struck a nerve with Kiyoshi, because he'd been brought up believing that it was every human being's duty to provide the Planet with as many children as possible. But a practical look at things denied this fervently; there were too many people, and not enough resources. Even quaint Icicle Inn had too many citizens, and not enough food, shelter or clothing for them all. There was a one-child-per-person law (in essence, two children per couple) in effect, but they had no way of enforcing it, and many children were born illegally in the slums. Even worse was that people were having children without going through the application process; one had to prove that they could afford children, and that they would be good parents (or at least able to keep from beating and molesting their offspring), and that their children would not be born genetically unfit.

Kiyoshi was meeting with the leaders to discuss birth control drugs in food. He was the one who had suggested it, since all food was monitored and supplied by governments, be it at restaurants or from the dispensers in people's homes – which were almost the de facto standard nowadays. Only a few ancient houses didn't have them at this point.

He disliked having to resort to such things – forcing people into sterility until they were approved parents. He wished that these things weren't necessary, and that Gaia had enough to go around. Unfortunately, she did not.

Another thing that would be discussed was the gigantic stretch of ocean between Wutai and Edge's continent. They were building a farm there, a huge one; a false, floating continent where corn and wheat and oats could be grown. It was partially done and Kiyoshi was quite proud of his pet project, funded between Wutai and Edge. It would be fueled entirely by solar power and wind, and would actually have internal weather controls within the greenhouses. The water would come from the ocean; the desalinization plants that had become so popular at coastal cities had been adapted for their uses.

Kiyoshi sighed. It was a hard time for the Planet. Regular space flight and orbital missions to the moon had shown that there were other places mankind could settle, but until their technology reached that point, they were just going to have to deal with things as they were.

He inhaled, squared his shoulders, and opened the door, letting a polite smile fall onto his face. "Gentlemen, ladies." He said, nodding at the leaders, all seated around his comfortable meeting room with a beverage of some sort in hand. "Welcome to Wutai. I hope your stay will be comfortable."

**- - - - - **

Children today liked loud music.

That had never really changed much. In her day, loud music had been popular as well. In fact, she rather liked _this_ music; it was kind of angry, yes, but it was melodic and pleasing to the ear.

_Yeah, here we go for the hundredth time_

_Hand grenade pins in every line_

_Throw 'em up and let something shine_

_Goin' out of my __**fuckin'**__mind_

_Filthy mouth, no excuse_

_Find a new place to hang this noose_

_String me up from atop these roofs_

_Knot it tight so I won't get loose_

_Truth is, you can stop and stare_

_Bled myself out, and no one cares..._

A snort. She could definitely relate to that. She looked at the shopping district of Nibelheim, as always startled by the changes time had wrought on the world around her. Her hands, as youthful as they'd been eighty years ago, rested on a wall, resplendent in fresh plaster and glass. This was where Tifa's house had been.

She'd never told them. She'd never told them what had happened to her when she was escaping from the reactor when Omega had been summoned. She never told them how she'd been drenched in the mako, how she'd absorbed Jenova cells because of Nero's body. She wished she had, but it was too late – they were dead, and she alive.

Yuffie Kisaragi was immortal, and she hated it. Permanently stuck in the body of a woman in her twenties, permanently dealing with people calling her "dearie" and "sweetie" and "child," despite the fact that she was nearing her first century. At least her menstrual cycles had stopped – they had well before she'd given birth to her only child. She wondered if it had been a fluke, or if she was still fertile.

Her hair was longer, and she wore more conservative clothing, but she was still Yuffie Kisaragi. Anyone who had known her would be able to pinpoint her in a crowd. She'd been wandering the Planet; at one point, for about twenty years, she'd been living off the land, but when she was certain Wutai had forgotten her, she had left, and started a new life for herself.

Her PHS had been replaced, but it was the same number. No one had ever called her; for seventy years she'd been awaiting a call that had never come. From someone in AVALANCHE, from Wutai...anything. To know she hadn't been forgotten.

Granted, those first ten years it had been shut off. She supposed they could have given up hope.

Her hand twitched against the plaster and stone building. If one looked closely, they would see that her pinkie and ring finger on the right hand had been broken, and had healed badly, at one point. If questioned, she would say it had been an accident. She would not go into detail about the night her husband had beaten her to within an inch of her life; would not describe how she had wanted to slaughter him and had instead fled Wutai, wishing no one to see her like this. She had not been a good mother – her own safety had been paramount, and she'd left her son behind with that behemoth of a man. However, she knew that her father had taken custody of the child, and she had that much to be thankful for.

She removed her hand and it's deformity from the plaster and strode toward the building in the center of town. It seemed an odd centerpiece to such a bustling city; a sagging, depreciated building made of wood and marble as opposed to the brick and mortar, and plastics, that were so popular today. She waited a few beats to make sure traffic was calm and then crossed the town square.

"It all started here." She whispered. The gating needed to be repaired, she noticed. She put her bad hand down on the fence and stared up at the building, wondering who owned it now and how much they'd want for it. She could restore it; it would give her something to do with the rest of her life. She chortled to herself, imagining her painting the walls even as the world ended. She wouldn't buy the mansion, she wouldn't restore it. It wasn't in her nature.

"Is there something you need?" A voice said, behind her. It was chillingly familiar, and she froze.

"Ma'am?" Another familiar voice. Yuffie slowly relaxed and turned.

"So this is where you two stashed yourself." She said.

Vivid blue and red eyes blinked.

"Yuffie?" Cloud asked, astounded. Neither of them had changed, she noticed, in all these years. They still looked the same; Cloud, merely a teenager in body, and Vincent his late 20's. They both were carrying bulging bags from a local eatery; it was almost like fate had intervened, as if they'd been expecting company.

"The one and only." She whispered. She hadn't thought anyone, except perhaps Nanaki, would still be alive all these years later.

Vincent took in the woman; she had obviously just gotten into town. Her clothing was torn and unwashed, and she looked like she'd been traveling.

"May as well come in." He said, pushing the gate open and walking toward the house.

"Yuffie..." Cloud said. He blinked. "It's really you?"

She laughed; it wasn't the same sort of laughter she'd had back then. It was a harsh, hardened laughter. "It could hardly be anyone else, Cloud."

He looked at her for a while and then nodded toward the house. "Vincent's right. You might as well come in."

**- - - - - **

"So everyone's dead." Yuffie said. Her fingers traced the wood grain of the kitchen table.

Cloud and Vincent had long ago finished their food, which they had split with her. Hers sat, uneaten, on the table in front of her.

"Except Nanaki." Cloud said. He looked tortured.

"Even Tifa?" Yuffie had hoped, when they explained why they were still alive, that Tifa had made it.

Cloud's face twisted with even more pain. "She died a long time ago. Cancer."

"It was the Lifestream." Vincent replied. "It does that in some people. The Jenova cells counteract it."

Yuffie nodded.

"Why...?" The question was apparent on Cloud's face.

Yuffie laughed harshly. "Vincent knows. Don't you, Vincent?"

He studied her face and then lowered his eyes. "Omega."

Cloud's confusion didn't clear up.

"When Nero became one with Weiss, and he joined the Lifestream, he tainted it with Jenova." Yuffie said. "And when Omega formed, I fell into the Lifestream that was creating it."

"Oh." That one word carried the weight of the world on it's shoulders. Cloud seemed deflated. "So it's just us, then."

Yuffie nodded. "Just us and eternity." She looked out the window, to the town. "Things have changed. The world has outgrown us."

Vincent's head jerked up. The exact words he'd thought earlier that day. It was odd to hear it coming in Yuffie's youthful voice.

"You'll be needing a place to rest tonight." He said, shaking off the unease he felt.

Yuffie laughed outrageously. "What, is this the Valentine Home for Unneeded AVALANCHE Members?"

Vincent shifted. "If you'd rather stay somewhere else..."

Yuffie shook her head. "No. It's fine. It was just funny. Jeez." She sighed. "Some things never change, Vincent, and I think your sense of humor is one of them."

Cloud started to laugh.

"I'll take you up on that offer, if you have a spare bedroom." Yuffie said. She started eating the food, finally in the mood. "But first I'll have to go get some new clothes. These ones..." Her nose wrinkled.

Cloud and Vincent both nodded.

"What do you guys do?" She asked, a few minutes later when she'd finished eating. She set the fork down on the plate. "I mean, with eternity to do fun stuff, everything gets boring after a while."

Vincent shrugged.

"Read. Watch TV. Go snowboarding. Anything to keep my mind off it." Cloud offered.

"I'm going shopping, then." Yuffie said. "For clothes." Cloud handed her his key, solemnly.

"In case." He said. She nodded and then was gone.

Everything was silent for a long time, until Cloud spoke.

"That's one mystery solved." He whispered.

"Yes." Vincent agreed. "It is."

_Author's Notes: I have no idea where this idea came from, honestly. None whatsoever. But I like where I'm going with it._

_Read? Review!_


	2. My immortal

**Neverending Heroes**

_**Chapter Two – My Immortal**_

_I try to tell myself that you're gone  
But though you're still with me  
I've been alone all along_

-- Evanescence,_ My Immortal_

Morning found Yuffie in the mansion's back yard, hurling her Conformer at a tree. It was the one thing she owned that had escaped the ravages of time, gleaming as brightly now as it had when she'd first found it, all those years ago on the sunken Shinra gelnika.

She was wearing something reminiscent of the old days, as well – a pair of short shorts and a tank top. It was a good outfit to practice in, as it allowed good mobility without overheating her as the ninja garb of Wutai often did.

It took a while, but she finally realized she was being watched. She turned slowly.

"Vincent." She acknowledged.

"Why?" He asked. She knew the unasked question – why _bother?_

"Because." She shrugged. "Why not? It'd be funny, don't you think, if there were another crisis and the original members of AVALANCHE – or what's left of us, anyway – joined in the fray?" She snorted and turned.

"I've saved the world enough times." Vincent replied.

She laughed. "So have I."

"Then why?"

She shrugged again. "Habit, I suppose." She launched the Conformer once more, smirking as it came back to her – as always. It was a very loyal weapon.

He watched her until she was done. She gave him no indication that she had noticed him in the first place until she slung the Conformer over her shoulder and turned back toward the house.

"What's for breakfast?" She asked. Vincent shrugged.

"We usually go out for food."

She stared at him. "You don't have a dispenser?"

He shook his head. "No. The facilities aren't...adequate."

She frowned irritably. "That must be annoying."

"It can be." Vincent shrugged his cloak back on him.

"Is that the same stuff?" She asked. He looked at her questioningly and she elaborated. "Your clothes."

"No." He said. "Shera made me a new set...shortly before her death."

"They look the same. Even down to the tatters."

He smiled, a sad sort of smile. "They weren't tattered when I received them."

Yuffie blinked. She didn't want to ask. "How...how long has it been since she...?"

"Twenty years, almost." He replied. "Cid just returned to the Planet a few days ago."

Yuffie felt tears pricking her eyes. It was always the same. "So he had to live on without her."

Vincent nodded. "He never remarried."

"That's...depressing." Yuffie set her weapon on one of the many tables in the manor's living room and headed upstairs. "I'm going to shower and change. Is Cloud awake yet?"

Vincent nodded.

"If you guys can wait for me, I'll hurry and we can go get food. I'm buying." She flashed him a grin, reminiscent of their times together before.

He watched at her retreating form, and sighed.

**- - - - - **

Cloud and Vincent were waiting downstairs. Vincent had, out of boredom mostly, cleaned off Yuffie's Conformer. It had withstood the onslaught of time well, still gleaming despite it's myriad of scratches and dents. He knew each one told a story, and as a fellow weapon owner, knew better than to try to polish them out.

"Okay, I'm ready." Yuffie's voice said. Both of the men looked up.

Yuffie had never looked less like herself. She was wearing a pale off-white silk kimono with an elaborate floral design in pale pink. Her obi was red. Her hair was pulled back into a knot at the back of her head, and her makeup had been done in the Wutain style, which was to say, it looked very natural and not like makeup at all. She carried a drawstring silk pouch that matched her kimono, and even wore _geta_, the elevated sandals that were a necessity in damp Wutai.

She laughed at their looks. "How do you think I kept from being detected all these years? Do you think I dressed like I did before?" She smoothed the kimono out. "Besides, this one was my mother's. I love it."

"Kimono keep well." Vincent said.

"I never wore this one before." She replied. "Of course it would." She walked down the steps with the practiced ease of someone who was used to wearing Wutain footwear.

Kimono were not that unusual a sight; with the population of the world the way it was, it was not uncommon for several nationalities to be seen within one block of any city. People moved from their homelands more often now that solar and wind energy were powering everything, and now that ecodiesel was cheap to produce; to power cars, airships and boats. It had been a boon, actually; Vincent recalled that Cid and Shera were both instrumental in the discovery of how to convert everyday waste and garbage into a clean-burning fuel.

They chose an eatery that Cloud and Vincent were fond of. Yuffie had never eaten there before.

"Will you be staying?" Cloud asked her. She shrugged.

"I don't have anywhere else to go. Might as well be with friends – if you'll have me." She looked disturbed and both of the men knew this wasn't how she had pictured her life to turn out.

"Most people, you know, would love to be immortal." She whispered. She frowned and crammed a piece of toast into her mouth and chewed. Once she'd swallowed, she continued that thread of thought. "But having to lose everyone, and knowing there's a chance you'll never be able to meet them in the Promised Land...I don't know if it's worth it."

Both men agreed with her.

**- - - - - **

No one knew how it had come up, but someone suggested they go to visit Nanaki. It had been...years. Almost a decade, actually. Since Cloud or Vincent had seen the beast.

So that day, they packed their things and set off. Cloud still had Fenrir, his ever-faithful bike, but it was decomposing in the garage. It was nearly eighty years old itself and outdated.

"It's a classic." Yuffie said, winking. "You should donate it to that big museum in Junon."

"I'll fix it someday." Cloud replied. The three of them looked up at the mansion.

Yuffie was actually glad, for once, of the technological revolution. They wouldn't have to hoof it to Cosmo Canyon; the town, while still small, was large enough to merit a train stop, so they went to the station and purchased tickets.

"That's one good thing about being immortal." Yuffie said, wincing at the word again. "Your bank account never dries up, what with interest."

The two men chuckled; it was no secret that AVALANCHE had been rich after they'd saved the world. Between the money they'd received from fighting monsters, and the various projects their fame allowed them to pursue afterward, the money had brought quite a total. Seeing as both Cloud and Vincent were the type to live modest lives, and Yuffie having been incommunicado for so long, it followed that they would all have a hefty sum in their accounts.

Just how much was beyond them. They all admitted they hadn't checked their balances in...years.

Yuffie shrugged and pressed her thumb into the pay-plate. Many point-of-sale outlets were using this new system now, one that tracked your account using your thumb print. That way, no one could steal your card, or get your account number. It was Yuffie's first time using one, but she'd seen it in practice before. She'd given the bank her fingerprints the last time she'd been there – almost fifty years ago – and she figured that was where they'd gotten the information.

Their tickets secured, the three of them boarded the train. They had purchased the private compartment between the three of them, and it was worth it; glancing out toward the coach section, Yuffie wrinkled her nose. Everyone was crammed in uncomfortably, so much so that people would wander into the dining car even if they weren't hungry, just to escape the feeling of being a sardine.

She sent a mental thanks to Leviathan for having cured her of her motion sickness some thirty years prior.

The porter came by to get their order for dinner, and then they were left to their own devices again until the meal was served.

Yuffie and Vincent were playing chess while Cloud watched. Somewhere in her travels, Yuffie had learned how to play the game, and how to play it well – she had a hell of a poker face, Cloud noticed. Especially in that kimono getup.

Halfway through the game their dinner was brought, and they abandoned the game in favor of sustenance.

"Has Cosmo Canyon changed, too?" Yuffie asked, wistfully. She knew Nanaki wouldn't like it if it had.

"It has." Cloud said. "Not as much as everywhere else, though. It's still a small town."

"Good." Yuffie replied, resolutely. She smiled and began eating the delicious lunch.

It would be good to see Nanaki again.

**- - - - - **

"Kiyoshi!" A harried whisper interrupted the meeting. He saw his wife gesturing to him frenetically; there was no way she'd interrupt such an important meeting without due cause.

Glancing over he saw that it was nearly midday.

"Gentlemen." He said, standing. "Perhaps we should break for lunch?"

"That sounds outstanding." Said the leader of Edge. Kiyoshi couldn't offhand recall his first name, but his last name was Tuesti – he was an ancestor of Reeve Tuesti, who had disappeared so many years ago.

"I shall see you in an hour, then." Kiyoshi bowed and hastily exited.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

Shizuko's face was alight. "It's Yuffie, Kiyoshi. That trigger you had placed on her account was activated today. She used the thumbprint system, so they were able to track her. She bought a train ticket to Cosmo Canyon from Nibelheim."

Kiyoshi froze. "She's alive?"

Shizuko nodded. "As far as we can tell. She must be...nearly a hundred now."

Kiyoshi nodded slowly. "Damn." He swore, closing his eyes. "I have to finish this meeting; doubtless it will go late into the night." He thought about it. "Nibelheim to Cosmo Canyon, hm? Even on a train that trip takes a day or two. I should be able to get there before her if I take the airship."

Shizuko nodded. "Should I have it prepared?"

Kiyoshi bit his lip, and then nodded assent. "Yes. Have it stocked and prepared. You can come with me, if you want."

Shizuko shook her head. "No, I know you want to do this alone. And someone has to keep the peace around here." She smiled up at her husband, who gave her a brief kiss.

"Thank you, Shizuko. I'll be able to continue this meeting with a lightened heart now." He coughed. "And now, what is there for lunch?"

**- - - - - **

Technology had come a long way in the past 80 years, but apparently engineers still hadn't figured out how to put comfortable chairs that could double as beds in trains.

Sure, there were the sleeper carts, but they were even more uncomfortable.

Their compartment consisted of one very long, comfortable padded bench, which could have fit all of AVALANCHE in it's heyday with room to spare. On the other side was the television and some games and books. Then there was the window, which was opposite the door.

"Dibs on the center." Yuffie exclaimed when they started talking about bedding arrangements. A sly grin was on her face and both of the men realized they were going to wind up giving her some of their space during the night.

Cloud sighed.

There was a minor freakout when Yuffie stripped to her kimono underthings to sleep; they covered everything, but Vincent, having Wutain ancestry, was scandalized. She laughed and told him to join this century.

Then the porter came back and gave them pillows and blankets, and they shut the lights off. For a while they left the TV on, because it was good background noise, but after a while Cloud sighed again and turned it off, curling up on his part of the cushions and turning toward the back. His head was facing the door, as was Vincent's; Yuffie's was facing the window. She had always, Cloud remembered, slept on her left side.

That was his last thought, for he drifted off to sleep.

The other occupants of the compartment were awake, if tired. Yuffie stared at the blank TV screen for a long while.

"You should get some rest." Vincent's voice came to her. His face was only about a foot away from hers, after all. "No doubt you will need your energy tomorrow."

"Jesus, Vince. I'm almost a hundred years old. You can't treat me like I'm 19 anymore." She scoffed. But she closed her eyes obediently.

He frowned. She was right. Despite the fact that she looked the same as she had all those years ago, she was not a child. She was just as much an adult as he was.

It was going to take some getting used to, not treating her like a youngster. Although he never really had back then, either. So maybe it wouldn't.

But still. The concept of Yuffie-the-woman as opposed to Yuffie-the-hyperactive-and-annoying-teenager was hard to wrap his brain around. He wondered why, all these years, he hadn't considered that possibility if they found her. That she would be a woman and not a mere slip of a girl.

He supposed that eighty years had made his memory of her rather permanent. He promised himself that he wouldn't malign her or treat her condescendingly.

With that, he turned over and fell to sleep.

**- - - - - **

Kiyoshi was sitting at the train station. He'd flown in that morning and landed outside Cosmo Canyon.

His stomach rumbled; he'd been so nervous that morning he'd neglected to eat, and they didn't serve proper food at Cosmo Canyon. Not the kind he liked, anyway.

So instead he watched this train disembark. It was the only train due in that day, so he was fairly certain that Yuffie would be on this one. He wondered what she'd look like – ancient, probably. He wondered if he'd recognize her anyway.

His eyes glided over the passengers. The first class passengers, to be specific; he was, for some reason, irrationally convinced that she would have paid for a private booth.

Then he saw something that stunned him. Cloud Strife and Vincent Valentine. He'd seen pictures of them, often – they were all over the newspaper clippings in Yuffie's file. They looked like they hadn't aged one bit. And it had been so long...

In their company was a young girl. She wore a kimono and looked disgruntled; not a morning person then. Her hair was long and pulled into a sloppy bun.

With a shock, he realized it was his great-grandmother.

There was no way. No way this girl could be Yuffie.

He moved in closer.

"I wonder where Red is?" The girl was saying to her companions. "I haven't seen him in forever. Oh, man. The burritos. I have to have one of the burritos. They sold the most awesome burritos ever here. Remember, Vincent?"

Vincent sighed. "Yes, Yuffie. You threw them up all over the Highwind for a week straight."

She giggled.

Kiyoshi frowned, and then stepped toward them.

The three gave him no notice as he approached; for all they knew, he was a fellow passenger, looking for someone he had lost track of on the train. So they were startled when his shadow fell over them.

"Ms. Kisaragi?"

Yuffie's head jerked toward him and his suspicions were confirmed. He felt a slight sinking in his stomach.

"Yuffie Kisaragi?"

Yuffie frowned and fought down the feeling that she was trapped in a corner. She saw Vincent tense up, too.

"Who wants to know?" She replied.

The man, obviously of Wutain ancestry, bowed. "I am happy to finally meet you, Ms. Kisaragi." He straightened and looked her in the eye. "My name is Kiyoshi. I'm your grandson."


	3. Somewhere I belong

**Neverending Heroes**

_**Chapter Three – Somewhere I Belong**_

_I will never know myself until I do this on my own  
And I will never feel anything else, until my wounds are healed  
I will never be anything 'til I break away from me  
I will break away -  
I'll find myself today_

-- Linkin Park,_ Somewhere I Belong_

Kiyoshi's first instinct had been to be disappointed; that horrible disappointment one normally felt when they met their heroes and they didn't meet the exacting standards that one had built up in their minds.

But that instinct proved to be wrong.

Before the trio went to find Nanaki, who was doubtless busy with some sort of Cosmo Canyon Leader bullshit, they sat at the Cosmo Candle – the restaurant, still here even now, although it had become more diner and less tavern – and had coffee with him.

Kiyoshi briefly went through what had happened in Wutai in the seventy years since her disappearance, including that the details of her leaving weren't a matter of public record. He didn't discuss what details, just noted that her journal was a private Kisaragi family heirloom, and not a part of the investigation, officially.

"Thank Leviathan." Yuffie said, rolling her eyes. Kiyoshi noticed, as she picked up her mug of coffee, that her right pinkie and ring fingers were slightly deformed; he guessed it was from the altercation with her former husband.

"I...ah..." Kiyoshi trailed off. "How?"

She sighed. "How, indeed?"

She stared out the window and Cloud briefly explained to Kiyoshi the effect mako and Jenova cells had on the human body.

"So you've had to deal with...everyone dying?" Kiyoshi whispered, eyes wide. "And you never will?"

"Neither will they." Yuffie said, gesturing to their two companions.

His estimation of her shot through the roof. No wonder she'd left. She hadn't even had the comfort of knowing that perhaps she'd die before her abusive spouse.

Everyone was quiet for a while before Yuffie spoke again.

"Why did you try to find me, Kiyoshi?"

"I..." He looked sheepish. "I had always wanted to meet you. They tell stories about you, you know. To all of the children, growing up. About your bravery, your skill, your beauty. You were...my hero, growing up. Finding out you were alive was a boon."

Yuffie smiled, sadly. "Those stories were, I'm afraid, overexaggerated. As you can see, I'm not very brave; I've been hiding for seventy years so I wouldn't have to face my mistakes. And I'm obviously no great beauty." She sighed. "I'm sorry your hero is such a disappointment."

"I notice you didn't contest your skills." Cloud said, jokingly.

"Of course not." Yuffie rolled her eyes. "I'm the Great Ninja Yuffie." She laughed.

"I've heard the stories." Vincent said. He smiled at her, slightly. "I don't see how they're overexaggerated. You were there with us to the end, Yuffie. That alone is brave."

She snorted. "You don't mention the beauty aspect." A slight giggle escaped her.

Vincent rolled his eyes but said nothing.

Kiyoshi watched the byplay between the three. They were obviously close friends, despite the fact that they'd been apart for so long. Yuffie had told him she'd just met up with them two days before. A slow grin spread over his face; here he was, sitting and chatting with three members of AVALANCHE, in Cosmo Canyon, the home of another member of AVALANCHE. He was sitting amongst living history.

And they weren't bad people; not at all.

"You're not a disappointment." He said. "To be sure, you aren't what I expected, because what I expected was a hundred-year-old crone. But you're extraordinary, just as the stories say." He stood. "I could use you, you know. In Wutai. And you could meet your great grandchildren. And see what we've made of the place." He tossed some gil on the table to cover his coffee and a tip. "I must be on my way. Please, visit Wutai soon. It would mean a great deal to us."

"Kiyoshi, wait." He froze and turned back toward her. She inhaled shakily. "I'd...love to come to Wutai soon, but please...don't tell anyone about me. No one who'll tell, anyway. I like living in the quiet. I don't want people to know...about my condition."

He nodded. "As you wish."

And with that, he was gone.

"I've heard stories, you know." Yuffie was saying. Nanaki turned toward her; it had been amazing, really, to see the three of them walk into his home; alive, well, and perfectly young.

"Legends of people who have had immortality thrust upon them." She was clutching a cup of tea, but it had long since gone cold. "They always traveled the world, found it's deepest secrets." She laughed harshly. "But the problem is that we found them all back then. Now there's nothing."

"Yes, I suppose that's true." Nanaki acknowledged. He'd grown, reaching middle-age, and streaks of white threaded through his intense red fur. More decorations adorned his mane, and he'd earned more battle scars and memorial tattoos through the years.

They were all quiet for a long time; Yuffie freshened her tea and Vincent switched the way his arms were crossed. Cloud toyed with a piece of materia, sliding it around in his hands to keep his mind off the silence.

"So the problem, then, is that you are bored." Nanaki stated.

Yuffie froze and looked up at the other two men, frowning.

"Is that what the problem is?" Cloud sounded perturbed. "...I guess so. We've watched everyone we love die...we've saved the world three times – that's three times more than most people would ever have the chance – we've seen the natural wonders of the world...There's not much left."

Nanaki paused, then looked up at them.

"Do you know what I have done with my long time on this Planet?" He asked. He chuckled. "I've learned things. I've read books I wouldn't have had the time to get to with a normal lifespan. I've learned how to do things that would never have occurred to me otherwise." He smiled, a great feline smile that clearly said he was pleased with himself. "You three have, assuming you don't get decapitated or something else untoward, even more time than I. Perhaps it will fill your time to learn things."

**- - - - - **

When the three of them set out from Cosmo Canyon later that week, they were pensive.

"Did you ever have something you wanted to do and didn't get to?" Yuffie asked them on the train ride back to Nibelheim. "Like...fly a plane or...well, we've all done that so I guess that's out..."

Cloud blushed. "Well, I always wanted to learn how to cook. But other than that, not really."

Yuffie chewed on her lip. She didn't bother waiting for Vincent's response because in 70 years Vincent had not become any more likely to share his inner thoughts with anyone else. "I always wanted to learn how to shoot a gun. They don't teach you that kind of stuff in ninja school...at least, they didn't when I was learning. Shurikens are great for what they are, but, you know, if someone's getting in your face, a gun is handy."

The two of them were quiet as they regarded Vincent. Yuffie's face was blank, but Cloud obviously expected him to add to the conversation.

Vincent Valentine was not a very easily-embarrassed man, but he found his face heating up to be put on the spot so suddenly.

"So, Vince, got any hidden yearnings in that thick skull of yours?" Yuffie asked, cheerfully. Cloud shot her a dirty look; Vincent, however, was glad she'd interrupted, knowing she'd done it to direct Cloud's attention away from him.

"I suppose..." Vincent frowned and his face took on an unfocused look. "There are a lot of things that interest me. I will have to consider them."

"That's the spirit." Yuffie rolled her eyes. She stood and excused herself from their room. "I'll be back."

"There you go, making threats again." Cloud replied, grinning. She threw a pillow at his head and he laughed at her.

When she'd gone, Cloud turned to Vincent.

"You don't have a problem, do you, with Yuffie joining us?" He asked, seriously.

Vincent looked at him in what passed for stunned amazement in the stoic gunslinger. "Why would I have a problem with it? She's our friend, is she not?" He snorted. "Besides, that old saying about 'misery loves company...' well, it's _true_, Cloud."

**- - - - - **

When Yuffie returned later that night, shortly before dinner, she came bearing writing supplies she'd bought on the gift car.

She handed each man a pen and a piece of paper, which she'd already split into two columns: "To learn," and "To do."

She smiled. "I can think better when I have a list to guide me by." With that, she plopped down into her chair and began writing on hers.

When she was done she showed it to Cloud. Under "To learn," she'd put "how to shoot a gun," "how to play guitar," "how to sew a kimono," and "how to cook." Under "To do," she'd written "Get my driver's license," and "Visit Wutai."

"Write anything down?" She asked, nudging him in the side with her elbow. He laughed and handed her his sheet.

"To learn – Martial Arts, electric wiring, cooking." She murmured under her breath. "To do – Rebuild Fenrir..." Then she paused and frowned. "...Where?"

"In Mideel." He said. "She liked it there, so..."

Yuffie set the paper down pensively. Vincent glanced over in time to see the last thing on Cloud's "to do" list - "Visit Tifa's grave."

**- - - - - **

While the other two slept, Vincent stared at his blank sheet of paper. He hadn't much given his immortality thought, having thought of it as his penance for so long. The concept of doing something _useful_ with it was foreign to him.

Finally, searching back through his memories of childhood yearnings and dreams, he was able to pen down one thing under "To learn." Carefully, he spelled it. "Piano."

Then he contemplated the "To do" list for a while. Eventually he wrote in "Fill in the basement," because it sounded like a good idea to him. The few monsters left on Gaia seemed to have taken up residence there, and filling it in seemed like a safe alternative.

But then he thought about it and scratched it out, replacing it with "Tear down the mansion, fill in the basement." Seeing as it belonged to him and Cloud, he figured he'd have to do some discussing with the younger man.

Then he closed his eyes and thought back to his childhood again. He had an idea that Yuffie would probably want to see more than two things on his list; frankly, he wanted to see more than two things on his list. So, after recalling fond memories of his cat Shadow when he was a teenager, he added "get a cat" to "To do."

After another hour's thought he wrote down "forging" and "meditation" to the "to learn" column. Satisfied, he set the list down and lay on the seat, head facing the door as it had been on the way out.

Yuffie was facing him, and he could hear light snores issuing from her. Cloud was murmuring in his sleep.

Vincent closed his eyes and sighed. How it was that he'd managed to join up with these two was beyond him, but really, he couldn't ask for better companions to spend eternity with.

_Author's Notes: If anyone thinks that Kiyoshi appeared too soon and was gone too soon, you're right. He comes into play later, I promise._

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	4. Don't it feel right like this?

**Neverending Heroes**

_**Chapter Four – Don't it feel right like this?**_

_And it comes to be that the soothing light  
At the end of your tunnel  
Is just a freight train comin' your way..._

-- Metallica,_ No Leaf Clover_

It was odd, that Yuffie was wanting to get her driver's license.

"You're almost a hundred years old." Cloud pointed out. "And you look like you're 19. That might be a problem."

But it turned out to be the easiest-to-solve problem out of the bunch they had – Yuffie simply got the doctor who had her files to sign a statement saying that she did not age due to a medical condition. The worldwide Department of Transportation accepted it as such and gave her her license once she passed the test.

So it followed that Yuffie was the first one who was able to mark off something on the board.

The board being the gigantic white board Yuffie had purchased the day they got back. It was a school sized board, the kind that teachers wrote on in front of classes. She'd divided it into three boxes, and then divided those boxes into two columns, leaving a space at the top for their names.

"Keeps us busy." She'd said.

For a week Yuffie was the only one with a goal crossed off on the board, until Vincent suggested that the three of them travel to Mideel, ostensibly to look into purchasing one of the food units for the mansion.

In reality, he was suggesting it because Mideel was where Tifa lay buried, and Cloud wanted to visit her.

They boarded the plane in a light drizzle and disembarked into sunlight. Mideel was forever tropical, always beautiful. In the past 80 years the Lifestream had sunk back into the crust of the earth and the population had rebuilt, until stories of the Mako fountain it had been became legend.

"I'm for a tan." Yuffie said, inhaling deeply of the lush, humid air. They headed to their hotel room – for the only had one, with two beds and a roll-out futon in it – and she confiscated the bathroom to change into her bathing suit.

When she stepped out, both men stared.

Yuffie looked very good for a woman who was nearing a century. To put it mildly. Her bikini just barely covered up what was socially unacceptable to let hang out, and it was a vibrant green color that reminded both men of the Lifestream. Her hair was longer now, but still short for Wutain women, coming just to the middle of her back. She'd braided it and piled it onto her head, obviously planning to lounge on the beach, relaxing.

The whole vision of sunbather was rounded off by the suntan oil glistening on her skin, and the green-framed sunglasses adorning her face. In her hands was a paperback book.

She smiled at the men. "I'm off. If anyone wants to join me later, I'll be at the beach."

Cloud and Vincent looked at each other.

"Right." Cloud said. He coughed a little. "I'll be back in a few." He looked at the two of them, nodded, and then left the room. Yuffie figured he was going to buy flowers.

Yuffie sighed sadly and then looked at Vincent, smiling. "I'm off, then. You comin'?"

Vincent regarded her. "I don't...sunbathe."

She giggled. "I figured. If you're bored, I'll be at the beach." She wiggled her fingers at him, grabbed a towel, then exited as well.

Vincent stared at the door for a few minutes and sighed, and then followed her.

"I thought you didn't sunbathe." She said as he caught up to her. She was walking barefoot through the street toward the beach.

"I don't." He replied. "I can't tan anyway."

She looked at him oddly, and he coughed.

"Hojo's...experiments...I don't produce melanin properly." He explained.

"Ah. That explains the pale, vampiric complexion." She said.

They walked in silence for a while until they reached the beach, where Yuffie spread out her towel and lay down. Vincent stood over her, out of the sunlight, arms crossed.

After a few minutes she propped herself up on her elbows and looked up at him. "You gonna sit?"

He shook his head imperceptibly.

An explosive sigh issued from her. "Damnit, Vince, sit down in the damn sand. It's a beach, for crying out loud. You're supposed to relax. You look like you're on guard duty."

He sighed and unclipped his cloak, laying it next to her – he had no interest in getting sand down his pants because he was agreeing to sit down.

After about an hour of sitting in the sun – Yuffie reading, Vincent glaring at anyone who came near them – Yuffie stretched sinuously and stood. Vincent averted his eyes while she did this.

"I'm going swimming. Keep an eye on my stuff?" She appealed to him with her eyes. At his nod, she set her sunglasses and book down on the towel and scampered toward the beach.

He sighed and closed his eyes, relaxing in the heat.

**- - - - - **

Cloud bowed his head and closed his eyes.

Tifa's grave was small; when she'd been dying he'd argued with her for hours about the grave she wanted. He wanted to build a huge memorial to her, a tribute to her beauty and kindness. She had not been comfortable with that, being a rather humble person by nature. After he'd finally lost her, he'd given into her wishes and had gotten her a simple gravestone.

Her name and dates of birth and death were inscribed on the elegant marble; it had been so long since she'd died, and the stone was beginning to crumble. One could barely discern the flowering border or the "Beloved mother, lover and bartender." underneath it.

He sighed and knelt. It had been nearly sixty three years since Tifa had died. The sod had long since turned to regular grass, but the pain was as piercing and real as it had been the minute she'd closed her eyes for the final time.

"Teef..." He murmured. He placed the flowers he was carrying down, near the stone; his last offering had long since returned to the Planet. It had been...a long time since he'd been to visit her.

Tears were pricking at his eyes. It hurt. It hurt more than anything that she was gone, and had been gone, all these years. Sometimes he could bring himself to forget; it was why he hadn't come for so long. But the pain never went away, and that was what made it hard to know he was going to live forever.

"I miss you." Tears fell on the dirt of her grave. "So much. So_fucking_ much."

"You never stop missing everyone who goes before you." A quiet voice said behind him. He whirled around. "The pain never goes away. It just becomes...tolerable, over time."

It was her. Or rather, a remnant of her. He knew that his Teef was long dead; this was her memory, her consciousness, coming up from the Lifestream for a brief moment.

"Tifa..." His whisper fell on the ground around him.

"Cloud." She smiled, beautiful despite the green glow surrounding her. "I've missed you."

He wanted to hug her but he knew that she would disappear as soon as he tried. He went to speak and found that the words he'd always said he'd say, entire speeches, had disappeared. He only had three left.

"I loved you." He said. He hung his head. "I never told you. I wish...I had."

"I know." She smiled again. "Can't hide anything from me, now."

A slightly abashed smile crossed his face. His eyes closed in pain.

"How, Teef? How can I go on like this? I just...I want to join you, in the Promised Land...And I can't. What am I supposed to do?"

"Oh, Cloud." She squatted next to him. "Some day, your time will come. No one is truly immortal. Even if you're here at the End of Days, when the Planet goes, so will you. And then we'll be together. Some day." She smiled. "And until then, you have Vincent and Yuffie, and even Nanaki, to keep you company. And who knows, maybe you'll fall in love again."

"Never." He shook his head. "How could...how could anyone live up to you? I can't..."

"You mean, you're afraid." She smiled. "Cloud, I loved you. I still do, when I'm whole enough to think about things like love. But it's been so long. I want you to move on. I can't look down on you from the Promised Land and be happy when you're so upset. I want you...to let me go. So I can be at peace. And then when you join me, we'll be happy...together." She reached out for him; as her fingers touched his cheek, they began to dissolve.

"Tifa!" He exclaimed.

"Just...never give up, Cloud." She smiled. "I love you..."

"I love you, too." He said, anguished. As she disappeared in so many lights, he sank to her grave and started sobbing. "How can I give you up, Tifa? I loved you too much..."

_"You'll find a way."_ Her voice whispered around him. Then she was gone.

He stayed there until the sun began to set, knowing that his friends would give him until nightfall before they began to worry. Just knowing that he was close to her bones gave him comfort.

**- - - - - **

Yuffie hadn't been to the beach in near twenty years, so she was enjoying herself immensely.

Very few women as old as she was could enjoy themselves as much as she could, however – she still looked as good as she had the last time she'd come. In fact, she was wearing the same bathing suit.

She sighed happily and with practiced strokes began swimming outward. A healthy fear of deep water had lessened in the years since her childhood and she now had no fear of the monsters swimming below the surface – she was at least as strong as they, if not more so. Jenova had that affect on people.

After a while the water cooled her heated skin and she allowed herself to lean backwards and float. The wind whispered past her wet skin and clouds floated past. She let her eyes close.

About an hour later she felt she'd swam enough and began heading back in. Vincent, as far as she could tell, was still sitting where she'd left him. She grinned and dove beneath the water to wet her hair again before jetting back toward the shore.

She came up with a gasp, about two yards away from the waterline. Seawater dripped off her and generally anyone watching would be stunned at how beautiful she looked.

Vincent was not watching.

Another young man was, however. He smiled and walked toward the former Wutain princess.

"Hi!" He said, brightly. Yuffie smiled back at him, absently, and began walking toward Vincent. She didn't take come-ons seriously anymore, not after having lived as long as she had.

"I'm sorry if this seems forward, but you're gorgeous." The man continued, walking beside her. Yuffie smiled.

"Thanks." She replied, wryly. She glanced back toward him; he was good looking, she'd give him that much. Piercing blue eyes and startling blond hair made her think alternately of Cloud and the late and lamented Rufus Shinra. He probably wasn't used to his advances being spurned.

"My name's Rufus." He said, grinning sheepishly. She raised her eyebrow and he explained. "I was named after the famous President of Shinra. Mom was...weird."

She smirked. "That's alright. My name's Yuffie. My mom was weird, too."

"No way! You're named after the woman from AVALANCHE?" He grinned and Yuffie neglected to correct him.

"I think it's fate, then. You should let me buy you a drink." He declared. She carefully hid her smile; he was really quite charming and she would hate to bring his ego down.

Then she realized that she didn't have to. This boy wasn't offering to become her husband; he just wanted a tropical tryst. Was there really anything wrong with that?

"Sure." She said, broadening her smile to appear more welcoming. She didn't have to tell him how old she was.

A few minutes later they sat on the beach, a few yards away from Vincent, watching the sun set and drinking mai tai's. Yuffie didn't spare the gunslinger a glance, knowing he felt himself on duty.

After darkness engulfed the beach Yuffie and Rufus came to an agreement and rose, heading back toward the younger man's hotel room. Yuffie winked at Vincent as they passed, who stared back at her stonily.

"Who was that guy?" Rufus asked as they walked down the beach. "The one you winked at?"

"That's Vincent." She said, shrugging. Then, feeling some sort of enhancement was required, she continued. "He's my brother."

"Jeez. Two kids named after AVALANCHE members? Your mom really WAS weird."

She shrugged.

They stopped at an all-night grocery store and picked up more drinks (alcoholic and otherwise), snacks, and condoms.

**- - - - - **

The next morning the sun found all three of those things littering the floor of the man's rented room. Yuffie shrugged back into her bikini and snuck out, smiling at the blond head peeking out from under the light comforter. She went back to their room, hoping Vincent had rescued her towel, sunglasses and book from the beach.

He had, but he was not pleased.

Cloud, exhausted, was still asleep. Vincent was watching out the window as she walked in.

"Morning." She greeted him.

He didn't speak for a long while, and when he did, it was quietly.

"As you pointed out to me not too long ago, you are no longer the child you were when I met you." He said. "I doubt it is appropriate for a woman your age to seduce young men."

She stared at him for a moment. "Excuse me?"

He regarded her stonily.

"Excuse me, Mr. Valentine, but it is none of your goddamn business what – or who – I do. You expect me to completely give up human comforts because I made the stupid mistake of trying to save your ass so long ago? I don't _think_ so." She crossed her arms. "As far as he knows, I'm nineteen years old and my mom had an AVALANCHE fetish."

"So you lied?" He rounded on her.

She glared at him. "You know what? Fuck off. I _am_ a woman, Vincent, as you just said. And I am perfectly capable of making my own choices. Maybe you and Cloud have chosen to take vows of chastity, but I am unwilling to become a monk just because I got cursed with immortality. Before last night I hadn't gotten laid in seventy years and the last time I did it was from a complete asshole. It was a nice change of pace. In your high-and-mighty world maybe there isn't room for things like sex, but in mine, there is. Keep that in mind."

He lowered his eyes. "In my world, Yuffie, there isn't room for things like _casual_ sex. You should be worth more to yourself than that." With that, he strode out of the room.

She glared after him.

The next night she joined Rufus in his room again.

_Author's Notes: Obviously, this Rufus is not the real Rufus Shinra, he just looks similar to him. But I love Rufus in any incarnation, so I had to use him in some way. Feel the love._

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	5. I face myself

**Neverending Heroes**

_**Chapter Five – I face myself**_

_I start again  
And no matter what pain may come  
Today this ends  
I'm forgiving what I've done_

-- Linkin Park, _What I've Done_

Two weeks later, the trio boarded a ship to Costa del Sol. Yuffie's skin was bronzed from spending the idyllic tropical afternoons with Rufus on the beach. In fact, the reason it was two weeks as opposed to the originally planned two days is that Cloud and Vincent had a hard time pinning Yuffie down long enough to discuss return.

Or rather, Cloud had a hard time – Vincent would not speak to her. He was severely disappointed and slightly hurt, although he could not understand why hurt would feature so largely in his feelings toward the ninja. He assumed it was that she had dismissed his reaction to her tryst with the younger man as old-fashioned. Admittedly, it was; he had been born nearly fifty years before her.

However, even Vincent had to admit that the affair with Rufus had changed Yuffie, for the better. She looked more healthy, and she was happier. Grudgingly, he allowed himself to forgive her, after Cloud had extracted the knowledge from her that she had used condoms (which Cloud railed at Vincent for afterward. "I've never been so embarrassed in my life, Vincent, and I've _dressed as a woman_! Why couldn't _you_ have asked her?")

Conversation was still uncomfortable and stilted. The trip to Costa del Sol took five days; Yuffie spent as much of the time as she could out on the deck, maintaining her hard-earned tan and conscientiously avoiding Vincent.

He finally caught her alone, shortly after the midday meal on the sun deck. It was so warm out that even he had changed clothing; a black T-shirt, jeans and tennis shoes ensemble purchased from the ship's onboard store. Later, he reflected that it might have been why Yuffie did not leave at the first sight of him, because she had not recognized him. She would not admit to it, however.

He stopped and watched her briefly; still wearing that godforsaken green bikini that she'd sported the entire time at Mideel, the one that had gotten them into so much trouble. It didn't occur to him that Yuffie would attract attention no matter what she was wearing; she was an uncommonly beautiful woman in a world of increasing genetic impurity. The bikini, that awful lime-green thing that barely covered her, was definitely to blame.

He sat, uncomfortably, in the chair next to her. She peeked out over the tops of her sunglasses and sighed.

"I guess you got me." She said, raising and bringing her arms across the tops of her knees, curling up on the chair.

Vincent averted his eyes; even now, when it was somewhat common for women to wear nothing to the beach, his senses were offended seeing Yuffie so exposed. He supposed it was because she was his friend, and he actually gave a shit about her.

He said as much when she asked.

"What, is my body so horrific that you can't look at me when you chastise me?" She asked, wryly.

He shifted. "No. I don't care what anyone else wears. You, however, are one of the last people left alive on this planet that I...care about, Yuffie. It...makes me uncomfortable."

She smiled. "I get it. Little sister, not sex object."

That wasn't exactly how he would have explained it, not at all. Yuffie, he knew, was definitely beautiful and feminine, and it was a fact that had not escaped him. However, it sufficed for the current conversation and he nodded slowly.

"I'm used to that sort of treatment, Vincent. I got it from everyone in AVALANCHE. I just...things are different now."

"I'm aware of that, Yuffie." He frowned. "You have to understand, that when I was a child, it was severely frowned upon for a woman to...have relations with men they were not married to. It is not easy for me to discard an entire part of my life so easily."

"When I was growing up, Vincent, it was the same." She smiled. "But I'm never getting married, ever. Not again. And I think I've...earned a little bit of fun at this point."

He blinked. "You were married?"

She frowned and looked away. "For a while. You must have heard Kiyoshi. He's my grandson. I had no siblings, Vincent. I bore a son for Wutai before I disappeared."

"I...had no idea." Vincent belatedly realized that he had completely written off Kiyoshi's grandson comment, not putting the numbers together in his mind. Then he realized that it was extremely out of character for the Yuffie he knew to flee Wutai simply because she was cursed with immortality.

"No one did. I retained my family name and the wedding wasn't highly publicized." She smiled vaguely and looked off into the distance. "It wasn't...a pleasant experience. I only did it because I had to, Vincent. Wutai needed an heir, and I wasn't cut out to do it. Not after my days of wandering the Planet and giving in to my own whims. Dad took my son after I left."

"Your...son..." Vincent had a hard time grasping that concept.

"My son. He was...really young when I took off. I still feel bad about it sometimes, but I know he had a good life. Godo took good care of him until his passing. By then, Miyavi was already leader."

"Why didn't your husband..." Vincent stopped himself in his tracks. It was not in his nature to ask questions like this, and he found himself wondering at why he was doing it. Fitting the puzzle pieces together, he supposed.

"My husband was not kind." She frowned and pushed her sunglasses higher on the bridge of her nose. "Women in Wutai are supposed to be subservient. Could you see me reacting well to that, Vincent? The man disliked being the lower-ranked between the two of us, and he disliked me for being so willful. On top of it, I remained Kisaragi Yuffie instead of taking his family name. He held a resentment against me and it got worse and worse. He drowned his sorrows in sakai and Sapporo and one day..." She trailed off. Vincent was well able to fill in the blanks.

"He broke my hand." She held up the deformation and smiled. "And beat me. So badly I was near death. I fled, and healed myself with my materia cache. Godo knew what had happened. He had him put to death, and took charge of Miyavi. I wasn't a very good mother anyway."

"I'm sure, that had there been different..."

Yuffie shrugged. "No way to tell. Really, Wutai was lucky. Hiroshi was the only man willing to marry me; I was too willful and too powerful. Royalty must marry other Wutains, you see, at least half-breeds. There wasn't any other to pair me up with." She snorted. "I suffered through that crap for several years, of holding myself in and containing who I am. My husband shamed me; because I didn't produce a child during our first union, because I was willful, because my hair was short. The biggest one was that I wasn't a virgin when he took me, but it was part of the marriage contract that he say nothing."

Vincent's eyes widened. He knew what an issue it was that Yuffie hadn't been a virgin when she married. Wutain women were to remain pure until marriage.

"It wasn't a big deal, really." She smiled and shrugged. "At least I had some fun, you know, before I had to deal with that shit. Hiroshi was a horrible lover."

She sighed. "See, Vincent, being a princess _sucks_. In the worst possible way. Your life is never your own. You know what that would have done to someone like me." He nodded. "This kind of thing means a lot to me. It means that I am in control of my life, that I can make my own choices. I'm not a princess any longer; I've done my duty and served my time. I can enjoy myself now, and I plan on doing it. As often as I want." She looked at him pointedly. "And with whoever I want."

He frowned. "I can't say that it's not any of my business, Yuffie, because it is. You and Cloud are...the closest thing I have to a family right now. But I will admit that it is not my place to say anything. You do not need my approval."

She smiled. "That's all I need, Vincent, is silence." She lay back down on her chair. "Nice getup, by the way."

He smirked as he stood and went back downstairs, to the blessed, blessed air conditioning.

**- - - - - **

Sometime during the train ride from Costa del Sol to Nibelheim – another five-day journey that made them wish they'd just paid the Airship fare – Vincent came to the startling conclusion that he fit the bill.

Or rather, that there had been another half-Wutain alive who could have married Yuffie all those years ago. His mother was a full-blooded Wutain woman who had broached tradition by marring a man from Corel, something she soundly regretted several times when she found that as much as Grimoire Valentine tried, science simply superseded his family's needs. Granted, Vincent would not have married Yuffie back then, nor would he now; not willingly, anyway. But he knew that had he known what fate would befall her, an abusive husband and no chance to raise her own son, he may have. Grudgingly.

That fact made him mourn his past even more. Things could have been much, much different. Yuffie would not have had to give up her homeland and life.

He stopped that trend of thought when he realized that marrying Yuffie would have involved...other things. Things required to produce a son. Things that made him uncomfortable to think about. No, he probably wouldn't have married her, in that end...well, if he'd known what kind of man she was marrying, perhaps... Still, he felt...guilty.

Guilt. Ah, yes. His old friend. He was so used to the feeling that it settled around him like a comfortable, well-worn jacket. This was familiar territory.

So he felt bound to apologize to her. The next time Cloud left to go to the dining cart, and the two of them were alone in their compartment, he brought it up.

"I need to apologize, Yuffie." He said, leaning forward and looking at his clasped hands.

She looked up from the book she was reading. "Apologize? For what?" The confusion was written on her face.

"All those years ago...when you were married." He frowned. "I could have spared you all of it and I did not, although I didn't know..."

Her eyes widened. "How could you have, Vincent? No one could have. It was a requirement, and I did it. It's the way of the world. It's not fair, and you deal with it, you know?"

He shook his head and his frown deepened. "No, Yuffie. I mean...if I had known which man you were going to marry, I may have...stepped in and intervened. And I apologize that I did not."

"Vince, you couldn't have intervened if you wanted to! Godo was dead-set on me having a husband to produce a good, Wutain heir with, and honestly, he was right. I got through it."

He frowned; she was making this difficult and embarrassing; he considered dropping the matter right then and there but simply sighed and continued on.

"Yuffie, I am half-Wutain. I could have put an end to it, and I did not."

She stopped and stared at him. "You mean, you could have offered yourself instead of Hiroshi?"

He nodded. "I wanted to apologize. You needn't have suffered...so badly."

She smiled, a heartfelt smile. "Vincent, you couldn't have known. And even if you had, you wouldn't have known what kind of man Hiroshi was. I don't think you would have."

"I am aware of that." He said, sighing. "I just know that...things could have turned out differently and...I feel..."

"Guilty?" She chuckled. "Wow, that must be such a _new_feeling for you." She sat up and brought herself closer to him. "I'm touched, really, Vince. It means a lot to me that you'd have been willing to do that for me. But the past is in the past. And besides, I didn't know you were half Wutain back then, or else I may have called you and begged you to come out. I hated Hiroshi the minute I laid eyes on him. So I guess it's as much my fault as yours for not knowing about my friends and their pasts, hm?" She smiled and put her hand on his arm. "Don't go wallowing in the past, Vinnie. We all found each other anyway. Things have a funny way of working out."

He smiled. She was right, of course. The past was the past, and no one could fix it.

**- - - - - **

So it came that when the trio came back to the mansion at Nibelheim, Cloud checked off one of his things on the "To Do" list.

It was at some point near then where both Cloud and Yuffie realized that Vincent's list had no progress whatsoever.

The next few days were a flurry of activity that Vincent didn't quite understand because he hadn't been informed of what was going on. A week after they'd returned from Mideel, Vincent found himself cornered by his two friends.

"We noticed you haven't done anything on your list." Yuffie said, putting her hands on her hips. Vincent suddenly felt a slight wave of apprehension at the pose. It was her ass-kicking pose.

He looked at Cloud and noticed that the younger man had crossed his arms. This was not boding well.

Yuffie smiled brightly. His stomach sank; this was never a good sign.

"You may have noticed..." Cloud began. "That we have been unusually busy this week."

"That is, Cloud and I." Yuffie continued.

Vincent regarded them.

"Well, I mean, we're already packed up." Yuffie said. Cloud nodded.

"Go get your stuff packed, there's spare boxes in Yuffie's room."

Vincent blinked. "What?"

"Duh, Vince, we're gonna demolish this place." Yuffie said, grinning. "Nibelheim doesn't need a place like this marring it's scenery. But come on, let's get your shit packed!"

**- - - - - **

After their things had been put into a rented storage unit (the few possessions the three of them had between them seemed almost wrong and vulgar to Vincent) and demolition commenced on the ancient mansion, Vincent learned that they had booked a suite at the inn in Nibelheim, which had been bought out many, many years ago and had become a Lockhart Inn. Before she'd died, Tifa had begun a small chain of quaint inns and bars which had blossomed into a very lucrative worldwide set of expensive hotels, top of the line. Cloud was the sole proprietor, but he had left management of the company up to the board of directors.

"So that's where you get all of your money." Yuffie said, crossly. Cloud smiled sadly.

The suite, which had been booked for two months (the expected time of demolition, basement-filling-in, and rebuilding) was completely_ gratis_ because, well, Cloud owned the hotel. The suite itself was quite grand, on the top floor of the high-rise tower. There was a living area and a small kitchenette with a food dispenser; a large, luxurious bathroom that Yuffie exclaimed over, and three separate bedrooms. It was almost more of a condominium than a hotel room.

"This is something they usually reserve for the high-rollers." Cloud explained. Lockhart Inns across the globe had expanded into the casino experience once gambling was legalized. "I take precedence"

There was even a lounge; it featured a small personal bar and comfortable leather couches. Off to the side was a jacuzzi that Yuffie also exclaimed over.

The food dispenser could serve any needs, of course, but there was also an extravagant room service menu on the desk, near the phone, in the living room. The prices made Vincent's eyes widen, and he quickly set the menu back down.

Cloud smirked. "I own all of the food, too. But if it makes you feel any better, I've been getting money off of this chain since before ...she died. I can afford to pay for room service."

"The food dispenser will suffice quite adequately." Vincent replied, dignified as always.

After their things had been settled, Yuffie hung up their white board in the living room. She did so in her skimpy bikini, planning on a jaunt in the jacuzzi. It was extremely distracting to both men, and they found themselves turning away.

Once Yuffie retired to the lounge, Vincent turned to the kitchenette. After a few minutes of trying to figure out how to work the dispenser, he, frustrated, went and found her to explain it to him.

"It's not that hard, Vince." She said. "Although I'll admit it confused the hell out of me when I first used one, too. First, you push in a number – that's how many people you're ordering for. Then you push in how many total dishes you're ordering. Then how many drinks – drinks don't count as dishes, so if you just want a drink, it's 0, 0, 1. You look in this book here, that's the menu, and you decide what you want. If you want something alcoholic you have to scan your thumb for ID purposes. Anyway, it will ask you "first person," and you key in the dishes you're ordering – there's main courses, side dishes, appetizers, all of that, and they all have a number code. There's over...wow, over a thousand different dishes at this hotel. And including alcoholic stuff, over a thousand drinks, too. Nice." She let out a low whistle. "Anyway, it becomes second nature after a while."

Vincent looked at the kitchenette. "What if I want to cook something on my own?"

She gave him a weird look. "You can't order raw food from the dispenser, you'd probably have to go to a market for that."

He frowned. She smiled and dialed a glass of wine for herself before leaving him alone.

The kitchenette, he noticed, had a small stove, but no dishes; a refrigerator, clearly meant for leftovers; and a microwave, probably for heating up said leftovers. He sighed and resigned himself to figuring out how to use the machine.

With a little bit of fiddling, however, he learned that he could adjust taste and the amount of spices and things in a dish. The "sample" button produced a small amount of the dish in a paper cup, and if you liked the way it came out you could assign it a personal number for yourself. After a while, he had "cooked" several different things – Valentine0001, Valentine0002, Valentine0003, and Valentine0004. These were, respectively, a spaghetti sauce that tasted exactly like the sauce his father had made so many years ago, a fresh boiled noodle to go with the spaghetti, a kind of fresh bread with spices, butter and a tangy cheese mix spread on it, and a tossed salad with a light dressing. A perfect Del Solian meal.

It was getting near dinnertime, so he ordered large bowls of the sauce and noodles, and the salad, and a tray of the bread. A bottle of wine (he was slightly confused when the machine asked how many, until he realized that it was asking how many glasses he wanted produced with the bottle. He pressed the number 3) and a glass carafe of water (also with three glasses) complimented the meal. A bit of confusion later and he had plates, cutlery and serving utensils.

He set the table, located off to the side of the kitchenette, and smirked, proud of his handiwork.

"Mmmm, I smell...Oh! Man! Vincent, you made dinner!" Yuffie smiled and gestured to a seat. "May I?"

He shot her an amused glance. "No, Yuffie, this is all for me. You're on your own for dinner."

She looked at him for a second and then burst into laughter. Cloud walked in in the middle of Vincent's retort, and joined her.

Yuffie exclaimed over his sauce. "Oh, wow, Vincent, this is amazing! What number is it?" He told her and she squealed in delight. "Oh, you figured out how to customize stuff! Right on, Vince!"

Neither of them mentioned that she was still in the skimpy bikini.

Yuffie didn't take offense, either, when Cloud suggested later that night that she get a different suit. Yuffie invited the two guys to check out the "amazing hot tub" with her; Vincent deadpanned that he did not "do hot tubs," causing Yuffie to dissolve into another set of giggles. Cloud, however, took her up on the offer, and they sat watching night set on the quaint little town fall to dusk. Yuffie had a soda, Cloud a beer. Cloud had no swim shorts, so he wore a ridiculous set of pajama boxers instead, one Yuffie had heartlessly teased him over. It had cavorting Tabasco sauce bottles all over it.

"Hey...ah, Yuffie." He scratched his head.

"If you're coming out to me, I don't wanna know." She said, throwing a hand up into his face and turning her head away from him.

"What—Hey! No!" He exclaimed. She laughed, and he struggled to maintain a straight face before continuing. "No, it's...about your bathing suit."

"What's wrong with it?" She asked, glancing down. "Am I getting pudgy?"

Cloud shook his head and sighed. "No. Look, it just...makes Vincent uncomfortable. He won't say anything about it, because that's just the way Vince is. But despite the fact that people walk around naked in some parts nowadays, it makes him uncomfortable to see you dressed like that."

Yuffie was genuinely confused. "Why?" Her head cocked and Cloud could almost imagine that she was still that same 16-year-old girl he'd met so long ago.

He sighs. "Because he holds us to a higher standard, Yuffie. We're his friends. He actually cares about us. Everyone else can go fuck themselves, so to speak – we're the ones who actually need, in his mind, to live up to his moral standards." Before she could protest – for she was about to – he threw his hand up. "I'm not saying you can't show some skin. You're an attractive woman who manages to pull off the whole teenage look – something most women one third your age would kill for. But if you could find something that is...attractive, and not quite..._that_ revealing...it might ease the tensions around here. Especially if you're going to wear it around the condo."

"But why does it matter if I wear it around the condo?" She asked. "It's just you and Vincent!"

Cloud blinked and smiled. "I'm glad that you trust us, Yuffie, but please remember that the both of us are men too."

She was quiet for a moment and her eyes widened. "Oh, gross."

He laughed. "Thanks for the vote of confidence."

They were quiet for a long while after that. Yuffie broke the silence first, and by then it was full dark outside. The city lights had come on, sparkling and sending a ray of light into the heavens.

"Cloud, how long have you and Vincent been living together?" She asked, quietly.

He thought about it. "Since...shortly after Tifa died. A long time." He sighed. "Why do you ask?"

"Because...you know him. So much better than me. I wouldn't have known why he was upset about my bathing suit...I wouldn't have realized it'd be uncomfortable for him to be around me in it. You know? And it occurred to me that I have a lot to learn about you guys...all over again."

He smiled and tipped the last of his beer down his throat. "Well, Yuffie, we do have eternity."


	6. You're not the only one

**Neverending Heroes**

_**Chapter Six – You're not the only one**_

_Anger and agony  
Are better than misery  
Trust me, I've got a plan  
When the lights go out, you'll understand_

-- Three Days Grace, _Pain_

_**Lemon**_

The next day Yuffie went shopping.

She didn't have nearly what Cloud had in his account – she had a sneaking suspicion that they'd probably all wind up mooching off of Cloud and his royalties or dividends or whatever the hell they were called after her and Vincent's money died off – but she could afford to go to a nice shop and get an attractive, more modest, bikini outfit. And a few other purchases, because, well, she did enjoy shopping.

She couldn't bring herself to wear a one-piece. They'd never attracted her and they made her feel fat. Instead she chose a modest two-piece; the bottoms were short shorts that vaguely reminded her of her AVALANCHE days, only in black with red trim. The top was a red tank top midriff shirt that matched the piping on the shorts. She got a matching pair of red and black flip flops, and a matching red and black beach bag. She figured they'd probably do a lot of traveling, so she wanted a good, sturdy beach outfit. She threw the green thong bikini away.

On the way back to the hotel, she happened to glance over and see the most beautiful thing ever – a gorgeous six-string acoustic guitar, made out of good hardwood and polished to a high sheen. She stopped in front of the store and touched the glass, lightly.

Ever since she'd been a child she'd wanted to learn the guitar – her father protested and insisted that she learn the _shamisen_, because it would make her more attractive to prospective mates. She'd hated every minute of it.

The price tag on the guitar was staggering...but it was on her list, right?

She blew into the store and purchased it. At the man behind the counter's suggestion, she also purchased a few sets of replacement strings (he showed her how to restring the instrument), and a "string softener." A few other necessities later (case, music stand, picks, instructional booklets and CD's, a shoulder strap, metronome and tuning pipe), and she was a guitar student.

The other two men were gone when she got there, so she changed into her new bathing suit and slipped into the jacuzzi, flipping through the booklets. She understood chords and the musical notation; from both her _shamisen_ exercises and the piano, another required instrument of hers. She wasn't a complete musical noob.

When she got out and dried off, she stared at the guitar. It was so beautiful, and yet so foreboding as well. Sighing, she picked it up and removed it from the case. Still in her bathing suit, she set up in the lounge, sitting on a couch and placing the musical stand at the proper height. Opening the beginning instruction manual and pinning up a diagram of guitar tablature, she began picking notes out.

She was exulted when she mastered "Hot Cross Buns" and "Pop Goes The Weasel." She realized how retarded it was to be picking out one-note songs when she'd already gathered the gist of where the notes were on the bridge, so she flipped a few pages ahead, to chords, and began learning them.

One of the amazing traits about the Kisaragi family is their strain of eidetic memory. Every Kisaragi for the last ten generations has been blessed with near-perfect mnemonic recall. Yuffie had it, as had her father, and her son. Her grandson had it as well. They only needed to repeat information once or twice to themselves and it was committed to memory. Yuffie plowed through the chords section relatively fast and skipped to the practice selections section, where she learned how to play a multitude of rather simple tunes. An hour later and she'd finished the first book.

She yawned, cracked her knuckles, got up and got herself a soda and some munchies from the dispenser, and returned to her spot. A short break later and she was digging out the second book and studying it. She recognized that this was much more advanced stuff, but nothing beyond what she'd learned.

By the time Cloud and Vincent had returned from the store, where they'd gone for the few things they'd need during their stay in the suite, they found Yuffie toward the end of the second book, playing through "In My Life," and singing along pleasantly. Every now and then she'd flub, swear, and start over.

_There are places I'll remember _

_All my life, though some have changed_

_Some forever, not for better_

_Some have gone, and some remain_

_All these places have their moments_

_With lovers and friends_

_I still can recall_

_Some are dead, and some are living_

_In my life, I've loved them all..._

Vincent and Cloud stopped. Frowning, they set their bags down and quietly crept to the door of the lounge, where they both carefully peered into the room.

Yuffie sat there, intently looking at the sheet music in front of her as she picked out chords and compensated for the lack of bass guitar. While she was still obviously a novice, she'd learned quite a bit. Not that any of the songs by this band were complicated musically, but they were definitely no beginner's songs, either.

Even more importantly, to both men, she was wearing a new bathing suit.

When she finally made her way through the song with no mistakes, at a normal tempo, she stopped, flipped the book around so she couldn't see it anymore, and played the song perfectly from rote. Cloud and Vincent looked at each other, amazed, as she finished and then flipped the book to the next page, which was the same band, different song – "Day Tripper."

Vincent coughed lightly to alert her to their presence. She stopped playing immediately and her head shot toward them.

"Oh, hey!" She smiled and shrugged out of the guitar strap, setting the guitar – carefully – down on the couch and rising to meet them. "I'm having more problems with this thing than I did with any other instrument, but it's fun because I _want_ to learn it." She wrinkled her nose. "I guess my piano teacher was right – if you can't play with joy, what's the point?"

"At least you can play something like that." Cloud pointed out, laughing. "I can only play the drums, and that's because I'm tone deaf."

Yuffie smiled and then looked at them both before twirling and gesturing to her new outfit. "Ya like?"

Vincent let loose with a grim sort of smile and nodded. He then excused himself on the premise that he was going to attempt to program some more dishes into the food dispenser.

"Don't worry, Yuffie, he likes it." Cloud said. A ghost of a smile was on his face.

She sighed and turned back toward her guitar. "If you'll excuse me, Mr. Strife, I have some more songs to learn."

**- - - - - **

By the time Vincent had worked out dinner and programmed it for future recall into the machine, Yuffie had increased her repertoire from two Beatles songs to ten, and insisted on performing "Run For Your Life" for them, which she claimed she had never heard before.

"It's like, the original stalker song!" She exclaimed, giggling as she danced around playing it. Cloud shot Vincent an amused look, one the darker haired man returned. Yuffie was nothing if not exuberant

"God, that song was old when I was a kid." Cloud said, wrinkling his nose. Yuffie stuck her tongue out at him and argued that he was only five years older than her. Cloud retorted that since when did women who were almost 100 years old stick their tongues out at people? Yuffie responded that Granny in Wutai had done it all the time, and who cares that she was going senile?

Vincent coughed lightly. "If you're going to bring it up, I remember listening to that song in my youth...on the day it was released."

Both Cloud and Yuffie shut up.

The three of them sat to a once-again delicious dinner (Yuffie proclaimed Vincent a "Food unit God.") and then retired to the lounge, where Yuffie packed up her guitar and sat in the jacuzzi.

"This is the life." She said, smiling and leaning back. Then she frowned and hopped back out, cascading water everywhere as she ran toward the living room, much to Vincent's dismay.

"Yuffie!" Cloud exclaimed, helplessly.

Moments later she came back juggling a covered tray, a foam box, her music player and a paperback book. These things she set at the side of the jacuzzi before lowering herself back in.

The covered tray wound up being a tray of snacks and munchies, and the foam box, sodas and bottles of water in ice.

"You're still hungry?" Cloud asked, incredulous.

"Kinda." Yuffie said, smirking. "I always did eat a lot."

She didn't get right to eating; instead, she set the covered tray aside, put her headphones on, opened her book and popped open a soda.

Cloud smiled at the ninja; she was someone who certainly knew how to relax.

The lounge had a television in it; he and Vincent watched it for an hour or so before Cloud excused himself for bed.

"You know, it wouldn't kill you to relax, either." Cloud said, pointing at the headphoned Yuffie as he walked out. Vincent frowned at him.

"I don't -"

"I know. I know. You don't do hot tubs." Cloud rolled his eyes. "I'm just saying, Vince..."

Vincent gave Cloud a withering stare, the kind of Vincent Valentine trademarked deadpan that sent many an enemy running in the opposite direction. Cloud, however, had been living side by side with Vincent Valentine for sixty years and he was not even remotely afraid. He sighed, rolled his eyes again, and made a rude gesture before leaving the lounge.

Vincent grunted and turned toward Yuffie, who was staring at him in amazement and a little bit of horror. Apparently she'd caught their argument despite her headphones.

She blinked and removed the earpieces. "I didn't think you two _could_ fight, you know. You're two heterosexual – I think. Don't enhance on that – peas in a pod." She set her book down and looked at him expectantly. He raised his eyebrow.

"Uh, duh. I'm waiting for you to get into the hot tub." She said.

"I am not -"

"Oh ho ho ho. So you can give me advice about what to do with my time, but we can't do the same with you? I don't think so, Mr. Valentine. Get in the damn tub."

"I don't like swimming." He said.

"This is nothing like swimming. Have you ever been in a hot tub? Especially the ones in Nibelheim; they pipe in mineral water from the hot springs, it's retardedly soft and awesome and relaxing and maybe, just maybe, some of the rod will push itself outta your ass if you soak for a while." He frowned at her crass wording and her smile broadened. "It's a huge tub, Vince. You don't even have to look at me, I'll just be over on _this_side, listening to music and reading my book."

He opened his mouth to speak and she interrupted him.

"I know you don't have a bathing suit. That's why I took the liberty of buying you and Cloud some today when I got my suit." She clucked her tongue. "Only fair." She pointed to the bag from the boutique, which he had ignored until she pointed at it. It was resting on the couch.

Vincent regarded it as if it held a snake or something equally repulsive. Yuffie laughed.

He picked it up and peered into it.

"Yours is the black one, if that helps." She said. He turned and glared at her and then stalked out of the room.

She sighed. "God, Vince. I wish you'd lighten up. I have to deal with you for all eternity."

**- - - - - **

Yuffie had returned to her book and music when she felt a slight disturbance in the water. There stood Vincent Valentine, all six feet of him, clad in his new swim trunks and minus head band and gauntlet. Yuffie had considerately gotten him longer ones, and they were not entirely ridiculous on him, but he looked awkward. Vincent was not a person used to walking around without a shirt on.

She smiled and gestured for him to finish climbing into the pool. She propped one earphone behind her ear in case he wanted to ask her something and returned to her book, purposely not making a big deal about his joining her.

They stayed there for the better part of fifteen minutes, Vincent sitting stiffly at one end of the jacuzzi while Yuffie read her book. At that point, Vincent interrupted her reading and asked for one of her bottles of water. She handed him one and then set her music player and book to the side and dunked her head down into the water.

Vincent watched, curiously, as the ninja stretched out and then popped her head out to the surface. She inhaled, deeply. She then popped her neck, a process that made Vincent cringe slightly.

Yuffie smirked at him and then stood, water sheeting off her body. It was around this point that Vincent realized what he'd missed when Yuffie had come out of the ocean some weeks previously.

She looked like some sort of siren, almost – absolutely beautiful. Definitely not the young girl he'd known so long ago. It was a stunning realization for him, and the shock must have shown on his face because she gave him an odd look before turning and climbing out of the hot tub.

"Potty run." She said. "Be right back."

Vincent shifted in the hot tub, slowly sinking to the lower level of the seat. This brought the water level up to his neck; his hair, loose from it's normal constraint of red fabric, floated away from him.

It was at this point that he noticed the digital controls at his side of the jacuzzi. Frowning, because in his advanced age he hadn't kept up on technology, he examined it.

He was surprised to find that the water constantly circulated, fresh coming in and old leaving. The water, it seemed, was filtered and cleaned using the latest technologies, and then released back into the hot spring. There were controls for the jets and heat, as well as another button he didn't quite understand. Perturbed, he pushed it.

Suddenly the tub was filled with bubbles. An exclamation issued from his mouth as he tried to stop the soapy issuance and failed.

A laugh made him look over his shoulder. Yuffie was standing at the doorway, giggling at him and trying very hard not to do so.

"I had no idea, Vincent, that you liked bubble baths." She said, biting her lip in an effort not to smile.

"I don't." He replied, frustration leaking into his voice.

She smiled and entered the tub, before crossing to his side and examining the panel. She had no idea how to stop the bubbles either, but proclaimed that she liked them and would continue to relax in the jacuzzi, foam or not.

She turned toward him, the water up to her shoulders and bubbles piled around her head, and smiled. "Vince, you have a spot of bubbles on your nose."

He reached up to brush them away and got even more soap on his nose, because his hands were also covered in the things. She bit her lip again and crossed back to her side of the tub.

Vincent had come to realize that the hot tub was not such a horrible thing after all; the aches and pains he sometimes experienced had melted away and he knew he'd sleep well that night. He was at loathe to leave the tub right then and decided that if Yuffie could deal with bubbles, so could he.

He sank lower into the water and glanced at Yuffie, who was leaning back against her side of the tub, relaxing. Slowly, he submerged his head.

He came up covered in bubbles, which he'd expected but had no idea how to deal with.

Vincent sighed, attracting Yuffie's attention again. The shock on her face was palpable; there was Vincent, stoic as always, and covered in bubbles.

She blinked.

It was a good thing,Vincent thought, that she'd closed the lounge door, or else Cloud would have run in to see what she was laughing so loudly about. He looked at her crossly.

"Hang on, hang on." She swam toward him and stood. His face was level with her breasts and he looked away in a hurry. She pushed some of the bubbles aside with her hand, swishing the water until she had a hole in the foam, and dunked her hands in, coming up with a handful of relatively clear water, which she poured over Vincent's head, wiping the bubbles away.

"God, Vince, I can't believe you've never had a bubble bath." She brought herself back down to his level. "And you call yourself human?"

"I haven't had one since I was a child." He corrected her. "And even then, I wasn't fond of them."

"Oh, yeah, right." Yuffie rolled her eyes. "I call bullshit." He raised his eyebrow and she continued. "There is nothing any kid, even the most solemn of kids, enjoys more than a bubble bath, preferably with toys."

Vincent simply looked at her.

"Oh, come on, Vincent. Admit it."

"I liked bubble baths more than regular baths." He allowed. "But I did not enjoy any sort of bath when I was a child."

"Dirty kid, huh?" She smiled. "I was the same way. Godo hated it, I always came home with twigs in my hair and dirt on my face and torn pants. And he had to fight with me to bathe. The bubbles always convinced me." A reminiscent smile was on her face.

Vincent was having an unusual amount of time struggling with his self-control. Yuffie was mere inches away from him; as Cloud had pointed out, the both of them were, indeed, men and the sudden realization that Yuffie was a beautiful woman as opposed to simply attractive...

It was difficult. To put it mildly.

The attraction itself did not bother him. He, being somewhat human and having a heart that pumped blood, dealt with arousal on a regular basis, as most men and women did. It was the fact that it was Yuffie – who he had always viewed as an extremely annoying younger sister or, more recently, a friend in the same manner that Cloud was his friend – that was bothering him so. And arousal it was, for he was, despite the heat, developing a bit of an erection.

Yuffie was looking at him with a quizzical look on her face, obviously expecting him to reply. He had no idea what would have given her the thought that he might reply, because he wasn't the talkative sort, but she expected something.

She smiled and his arousal increased tenfold. She was beautiful when she smiled.

It was then that he realized exactly how much he loved the bubbles. Loved them to his dying breath. Because they cloaked them and hid his neither regions from her. That was a conversation he had no intention of having with Yuffie Kisaragi, and it was at that moment that he swore his undying loyalty to soap bubbles.

He felt, oddly, backed into a corner. She was sitting mere inches away from him. He could be discovered at any moment.

Wincing slightly, he scooted back toward his seat. Yuffie smiled and went under the bubbles.

Vincent's eyes widened. A few moments later she popped out on her side of the tub, and gave no indication that she'd seen anything untoward beneath their gracious covering. Letting out a small sigh of relief, Vincent put his head in his hands and proceeded to be as antisocial as he could possibly be. Which is to say, very antisocial.

**- - - - - **

Yuffie sat on her side of the tub, drinking a bottle of water. Oh, she'd_seen_ it, alright. It was an odd feeling, knowing that Vincent Valentine, Mr. Immovable himself, might have – just possibly – been aroused because of her. Now, it was entirely possible that his dislike of hot tubs had something to do with an erotic encounter with Lucrecia all those years ago, but she somehow doubted it. No, Vincent wanted to boink her.

Oddly enough, the concept didn't entirely disgust her, which made her stop and pause. Back during Meteor, she'd wanted nothing more than to be with Vincent, her childhood crush, with his exotic looks and long hair and forbidding demeanor. That had faded, of course, and the crush was long gone by the time she'd married.

But now, he was just as attractive as ever, although now that she'd learned more throughout her years, he was not as _desirable_. He had more emotional baggage than Rocket Town Airport, and he was also opposed to flings. She did not delude herself into thinking she could fix him; Vincent was messed up and there was no real way to correct that without his help. He was not boyfriend material.

Still, the memory of the bulge in his wet swim trunks – and what a bulge! – brought a bit of a flush to her face and a twinge at her core.

No, there was no way she could deal with this sober. Smiling at Vincent, she stood and dashed toward the kitchen, still soaking wet, and dialed up a bottle of rum. Pondering to herself, she ordered two cups – just in case.

When Vincent saw what she'd brought back, a concerned look came across his porcelain features. "Yuffie, I don't think you're supposed to drink alcohol in jac-"

"Yeah, yeah." She waved him off. "You're more than strong enough to haul my ass out if I crack my head, Vinnie." The old nickname slipped out before she could help herself, and she flushed slightly.

She opened a can of Coke, setting it aside and pouring a measure of rum into a glass. She regarded it and then added more rum, before topping it off with Coke and a cube of ice from the icebox. She offered Vincent one and he declined, claiming that someone was going to have to be conscious to keep her from drowning when she succumbed to alcohol poisoning.

Yuffie stuck her tongue out at him and then smiled.

For the first few drinks she stuck to rum and Coke, before moving on to straight rum. Exclaiming over how good it was, she managed to convince Vincent to try a small bit of the rum – just a little bit, she said, to taste it. She poured him a healthy measure and he looked at her with a quirked eyebrow.

Really, it was decent rum. Vincent had to give her that much. He nodded his approval and set the glass on the side of the hot tub, brushing more bubbles out of the way in the process.

Yuffie was a little tipsy at this point. She let out an exclamation and stumbled toward his side. Grabbing his glass, she made to drink it.

"Hey!" Vincent exclaimed, before he could stop himself. He closed his eyes. "I believe that's mine."

"You're not gonna drink it." She pointed out. "You can't waste alcohol, Vinnie. Party foul!"

He extracted the glass from her hands. "I think you've had enough." He said, gently.

"Nuh uh!" She replied, grabbing for the cup. She continued trying to grab for it, brushing up against him in a way that made his forgotten erection come back.

Vincent drank it all in one gulp.

Yuffie stopped mid-lunge and stared at him. "Vince, that was a lotta alcohol."

"Which you do not need. Perhaps you ought to go to bed, Yuffie. It's getting late."

They stood there for a few minutes, a battle of wills, Vincent refusing to budge and Yuffie refusing to go to bed. Then the rum hit him and he swayed.

"Jesus, Vincent." Yuffie said. Her words were a little slurred but otherwise she seemed alright. She staggered, pushing him toward his seat in the tub. "This rum is like three times stronger than the wine you're always drinking. You can't just shotgun it!"

"Sorry." He mumbled.

She had a hard time getting him to sit upright in his seat so he didn't slump over into the water. Shaking her head to clear it, she pushed him backward, thinking that maybe this hadn't been such a good idea after all. Vincent was heavy and she didn't know if, Jenova enhanced strength or not, she could feasibly haul him out of the water, to safety.

Her knee bumped something hard and she froze. In her haste to prop Vincent up against the side of the tub, she'd pushed her knee toward his groin and it was currently connecting with his rock-hard erection.

Eyes wide, she looked into Vincent's face, apology written all over hers. Despite her mortification that she'd put him on the spot, a flash of arousal shot through her, from her belly downward. She shivered slightly.

A slight moan escaped his lips. It was easily the most sexy thing Yuffie had ever experienced in her life.

At that point, she made a decision. His eyes had closed slightly; he was reveling at the feel of pressure against his arousal. Smirking, because this was easily the most kinky thing she'd ever done, she ducked down before he could protest and sank beneath the foam.

Vincent's eyes shot open. For a second he thought that maybe she'd ducked down because she was just that embarrassed – there were times when he wished he could do the same – and then he felt her hands at his waist. Fumbling.

He let loose with a yelp as she freed his member, and another one as her mouth surrounded the head of it. He gasped, and drunkenly he tried to bring her head above the water level.

She fought his hands off and continued her ministrations until she had to surface for a breath. When she did Vincent was trembling with arousal and anger.

She kissed him and let her hand trail downward, until she grasped him firmly in her hand and continued stroking while their tongues mingled. She could sense Vincent's muscles relaxing – slowly – as he got used to the idea that she was going to have her way with him.

Her free hand guided his hand to her breast, where she slipped both under the fabric of her bathing suit. He rubbed the nipple experimentally, producing an aroused moan from her.

As he became more confident – and the alcohol helped with this – he began inching his hands slowly downward. His fingertips hit water and then the edge of her bathing suit bottoms. He slipped them beneath the elastic, tugging slightly to bring the fabric lower. Yuffie moaned again.

His fingers came to the juncture at her legs and he flicked. Another moan. Assorted flickings and rubbings later and Yuffie shuddered, breaking their passionate kiss and throwing her head back lightly. She pulled herself off of him and ducked back under the water for round two, which left him gasping and clutching at the side of the jacuzzi.

Eventually she pulled herself up for another breath and stood, slowly and tantalizingly removing her bikini bottoms altogether and dangling them in front of Vincent for a second before tossing them aside. She stripped off the top, while she was at it, and vaguely hoped that the fabric wouldn't clog the filter intake on the tub.

She leaned and kissed him, and while doing so she inched his new bathing suit down toward his knees. Obligingly, he lifted his lower legs and she slipped the offending garment off.

She knew that Vincent would never agree to this sort of thing while sober, but she was so goddamn horny that right now she didn't care. Slowly, she sat down on his lap, impaling herself on his length and groaning until her entrance rested against the base of his arousal.

His head was back, leaning against the edge of the jacuzzi, and his eyes were closed. A slight panting sound was issuing from him and she smirked, knowing beyond a doubt that she, and only she, had caused this reaction in Vincent.

She lifted herself and lowered, making small mewling sounds that penetrated Vincent's drunken haze. Vaguely, a sense of pride was filling him because not only was he fucking an absolutely beautiful woman, but she was _enjoying_ it.

With a slightly feral growl, he stopped her thrusting by placing his hands on her hips, and shifted, moving them so that she was sitting and not he. She smiled lazily and he began moving, and at the same time covering her neck and collarbone with bites and kisses.

They were both moving and thrusting and moaning, so they didn't notice the door opening at first.

"Hey, Yu – Oh, _shit_!" Both of their glances shot over to the door, where Cloud had thrown his arms up over his face. "Oh my _God_!"

The couple separated instantly. Blushing, Yuffie ducked below the water line. A moment later Vincent felt his swim trunks thrust into his hand, and a minute after that Yuffie emerged with her bikini on. Vincent shifted as fast as his drunken haze allowed him and put the garment on, hoping it was on correctly.

"Oh, fuck." Cloud moaned. "Vincent, I said you needed to _relax_, not fuck Yuffie!"

"Hey!" Yuffie exclaimed. "What could possibly be more relaxing than that? Besides, do you know anyone on the _Planet_who needs to get laid more than Vincent?"

Vincent was blinking and swaying slightly.

"I think..." He began. He did not finish, because at that point he slumped forward toward the bubbling water.

"Shit!" Yuffie caught him, his face inches away from the surface of the water. Breathing heavily, she got him to the edge of the tub and hefted him out. Cloud latched his hands under the gunslinger's armpits and pulled him up.

"Damnit, Cloud." Yuffie frowned. "You really know how to ruin a good time."

Cloud sniffed, smelling the alcohol on Vincent. "So, what, Yuffie, you get Vincent drunk and then molest him? You know he wouldn't go for this sober."

"Uh, he started it by getting a _hard on_." Yuffie said. "And I told him he shouldn't have drank the whole thing, damnit." She climbed out of the jacuzzi and helped Cloud move Vincent farther onto the concrete. Yuffie mourned her lost orgasm morosely as the pair carried a comatose Vincent between the two of them.

"And not just me. I mean, Vincent hasn't gotten any in _how_ long? Jesus _Christ_, Cloud, do you know how unbearable he's going to be? He's got blue balls from hell!"

"I'm more worried about what's going to happen when Vincent wakes up and remembers everything that just happened." Cloud snapped out. They'd reached his room and set their very heavy parcel on his bed, still wet. "You know how Vincent is, Yuffie."

Yuffie glared at him for a minute and then groaned, putting her face in her hands. "I know. God, I'm such a fuckup."

Cloud sighed and sat at the edge of the bed. "Look, Yuffie there's a really good chance that he won't remember a damn bit of this – the few times I've seen him drunk he's blacked out. I think it's probably best if we just...don't mention it. If he's blacked out it's like it never happened. If not, we can spare him the embarrassment"

Yuffie nodded in agreement and Cloud stood up, slowly. He glanced back at Vincent and sighed again. "Come on, let's go clean up the lounge."

**- - - - - **

Vincent woke up the next morning with his first hangover in twenty years and visions of having sex with Yuffie in the jacuzzi dancing in his head.

He groaned and turned away from the window and winced. A bottle of painkillers and a glass of water had been thoughtfully placed on his nightstand and he popped two.

Then he buried his face in a pillow until the headache started to subside. It was at this point that he remembered his final moments before passing out and a heated feeling filled his body.

He groaned. He could remember it clearly – her, sliding up and down his manhood, kissing him. The feel of her breast beneath his hand, and her mouth around him.

It was embarrassing, frankly.

It was early, he could tell that much from the angle of the sunlight coming into his room. He sat up groggily and glanced at the clock – yes, early. Just after 8 a.m. If he was lucky, the other two would still be asleep.

Peeking out into the living room, he found that his assumption was correct. There wasn't a peep from the other two rooms. He snagged his clothes and walked toward the bathroom.

Cloud's door was firmly shut. Yuffie's was cracked open and he could just make her out, sleeping with her mouth open and snoring. He tore his gaze from her and shut the bathroom door behind him.

He looked horrid. Blinking at his own disheveled appearance in the mirror, he turned toward the shower. After a thorough cleaning and a shave, he felt much better.

Safely ensconced behind his cloak and metal gauntlet, he went into the kitchen and dialed up some breakfast, knowing that the headache would probably return if he did not eat something.

Just as he was about to bite into some scrambled eggs, he heard a groan and a thumping noise. Glancing upward he noticed Yuffie stumble out of her bedroom – still in her bathing suit – and head for the bathroom. She looked...unwell.

He turned back toward his plate and tried to ignore the sound of vomiting.

**- - - - - **

Yuffie swore to herself that she would never, ever, ever polish an entire bottle of rum by herself. Thin strings of foul-tasting fluid were coming out of her mouth and spattering on the porcelain toilet bowl. When she ran out of reverse-rum, she simply continued dry heaving until her stomach felt better.

Then she flushed and let her head rest against the cool surface of the bathtub. Today was going to suck.

When she walked out she followed the smell of food. Vincent was finishing his breakfast, but at some point she could see that he'd prepared for her arrival – a cup of coffee and a plate of food sat on the table. Nearby was the bottle of painkillers Cloud had left on Vincent's nightstand. She grunted acknowledgment of the consideration and sat down heavily in the chair, shoveling food into her mouth and occasionally sipping the coffee. After a while she regarded the bottle of painkillers. They were strong narcotics, of course, because there was nothing else on the planet that could help Vincent when he was actually in pain. She broke one in half and chased it with coffee.

When Cloud awoke several hours later he found Vincent in the living room, reading the newspaper, and Yuffie sitting in the lounge.

She'd closed all of the curtains to the room and had a large, empty metal bowl sitting next to her as she relaxed in the jacuzzi – this time thankfully bubble-free – with a dark, wet cloth over her eyes and forehead. Every now and then she'd sip a clear fizzy soda.

"What's the bowl for?" He asked quietly, knowing she most likely had a hangover.

"In case I hork it again." She murmured. "Took Vincent an hour to get the filtration system working again after last time."

"Now you know not to overdrink."

Yuffie let out a spate of short, pain-filled laughter. "I learned that lesson years ago, Cloud, and yet I still wind up in positions like this." She groaned slightly and shifted.

Cloud smirked a little and then left the lounge, quietly closing the door behind him.

_Author's Notes: No, Vincent and Yuffie have not hooked up. I'm not sure if they're actually going to. It all depends on my muse, who we all know is an asshole. It had just been soooo long, and I wanted to imagine Vincent naked again. Haha._

_Read? Review!_


	7. One shining star

**Neverending Heroes**

_**Chapter Seven – One shining star**_

_Maybe everything's changed  
And maybe I stayed the same  
What does it matter to me now, anyway?_

_If I ever regret it  
If I'm ever repentant  
Karma sings, and we'll dance the dance, baby_

_Well, that's all that you are  
You're just one shining star...  
Well, that's all that you are  
You're just one shining star..._

-- Econoline Crush,_ All That You Are_

For the next month Yuffie studiously stayed away from alcohol, sticking to sodas, fruit juices and other soft beverages. She also tended to stay away from the jacuzzi.

The reason for this was that Vincent seemed to have taken a liking to it, so long as he kept the memory of that night in check, and as long as he didn't push the bubble button.

The day they'd been in the suite for a month was, coincidentally, the day that the demolition and cleanup of the mansion was completed – the basement was going to be filled in. Nanaki had come by and taken what books and research he felt would benefit Cosmo Canyon's new digital library project; the rest would be sealed with the basement in cement, forever.

The foreman was on hand the day it was going to happen. He explained to Vincent that they were going to fill the basements (which were several meters below the ground and had had to be dug up) and the tunnel until about six feet below ground level, and then good, moist, fertile soil would be used to cover up the cement block.

"In case ya ever wanna plant anything." He said, smiling. "It's more eco-friendly. Also, we've gotta lay pipe and electrics and that's damn hard to do in solid cement."

Vincent nodded.

The crew began the pumps; from up top the basements looked so tiny. Yuffie peered down; She had exceptional sight, and it was only because of this that she could make out the room where they'd discovered Vincent slumbering away, 80 years ago.

The trio said nothing as the cement pumps began drawing liquid concrete down into the hole. The library where Sephiroth had gone insane was filled first, and then the hose began traveling to deliver it's burden to other parts of the cursed place. The sewer entrance to the mansion was long gone, having fallen victim to an avalanche (no pun intended, of course) a few decades ago.

They watched until all of the concrete had been placed, and cement layers began crawling down the fortified sides of the hole to set it properly. Then they bid the foreman (Yuffie could swear she'd seen him somewhere before, he was so familiar) farewell and walked back to the inn.

"Hell of a way to say goodbye." Cloud remarked. The other two murmured their agreements.

For the first time in many years, Vincent found himself thinking about Lucrecia, forever entombed in her cave. He wondered if he could fill the cave in, too. He bore the woman no grudges, of course, but eighty years had given him the time to come to terms with what had happened, and he wished nothing more than to put it behind him.

When they got back to their suite, he mentioned it to Cloud.

"I don't think it's a good idea to fill in a cave." Cloud said, his brow wrinkled. "Animals might use it, call it home. Could really screw up the ecosystem." The entire Planet had become more aware of the ecosystem in recent times, Yuffie had noticed – it could have something to do with the world's dwindling food supplies. She'd read in the newspaper just the other day that her grandson – that still sounded weird – was attempting to build a floating continent between the Junon continent and Wutai. A little bit of pride had run through her at that; her line had always had ingenuity.

Vincent nodded, and then Yuffie spoke up.

"Did anyone recognize the foreman? He looked really familiar." She didn't look at Vincent while she said it. The two of them had said barely three sentences to each other since that night; Vincent rarely spoke to anyone, but quiet coming from Yuffie was to be noticed.

"It's Cid's grandson." Vincent replied. "One of them. His sons and daughters...procreated a lot."

"Oh, that's an idea." Cloud said, leaning against the kitchenette counter. "Cid's oldest daughter is in charge of the Space Program. Followed in her dad's footsteps." He grinned. "Why not, Vincent, extract Lucrecia and send her up into space?"

"Final peace." Yuffie murmured, tracing the lines in the kitchen table with her fingers. "Traveling the cosmos for all eternity."

Vincent inhaled. "I think...I think she'd like that."

**- - - - - **

And so Vincent added another goal to his "to do" list: "Send Lucrecia to space."

It was something that could be taken care of while they were waiting for their new home to be built. Cid's grandson, who looked a lot like his grandsire, came with them to take a look at the site.

"I think it could be done." He said. He'd been named for his grandsire, and all three of them felt as if they'd been taken back in time. Cid Highwind the Third even smoked. "I gotta couple guys who know a bit about Materia and Mako carving; stuff's softer than glass, you know. The Lockhart Inn in Wutai had us carve gigantic Mako dragons to decorate the rooftop. I can spare 'em from the gig within the next few days, if you want. Their professional opinion's prob'ly better than mine."

Cloud nodded. "Do you happen to know how to get hold of your mother? We'd need her expertise too."

His face showed surprise. "Ma? She's probably down in Edge at her office. We keep tellin' her to retire; woman's damn near 65. She loves her work, even though she can't go up anymore. Nah, my sister Shalua's probably the one you wanna talk to. She does all of the shuttle planning; Ma just takes care of the science-y shit."

Yuffie's face registered astonishment at the name choice.

Cid the Third smiled and nodded his head. "My family's the sentimental bunch. Ma had...Granddad name her." His face was sad and with a start Yuffie remembered that it had only been a few months since Cid Senior's death.

"How can we talk to your sister?" Vincent asked.

"Oh, she's in Rocket Town, 'course." Cid smiled. "Gotta be close to the launch sites. I can give her a call when we get back to Nibelheim."

"I'd appreciate it." Cloud said.

Vincent asked to be alone with Lucrecia before they left the cave. Exchanging a glance, Cloud and Yuffie exited.

"What do you think he's gonna do?" Cloud asked her as they sat with Cid outside.

"I dunno." Yuffie shrugged. She'd never liked Lucrecia much; when she was younger and craved Vincent's attention, she hated the older woman for having such a hold on the gunslinger. Now, she felt a vague annoyance with her for reasons she couldn't quite explain. Also, the woman had fucked with Vincent and put him in the state he had been in when they found him. No one fucks with Yuffie Kisaragi's friends.

She bit her lip.

Cid sighed. "I don't know 'im well, 'course, but I think he's prob'ly askin' permission. Maybe sayin' goodbye."

**- - - - - **

Vincent sat on the cold ground before Lucrecia's mako-entombed form, as he had so many times in the past. He hadn't been there since Deepground.

Oddly, it came to him as if he'd never left. Must be like riding a bicycle.

"Lucrecia?" He murmured.

_"Vincent?"_ His name echoed around him. _"It's been so long."_

"It has." He said.

_"Still alive, I see."_ She sounded sad. _"I'm so sorry..."_

He frowned. "You did not give me immortality, Lucrecia. None of the blame rests with you."

A crystalline sigh rippled through his psyche. _"I suppose. Why do you come to me after all of these years?"_

"I want..." Vincent stood. "I want to put the past behind me."

_"And you cannot do that while I am here." _Astute as always, Lucrecia was. He nodded. "Would you deny me my resting place, Vincent?"

"Never." He said. "I want...to give you peace."

_"I doubt that's possible."_

They were both quiet for a while.

_"What do you have in mind?"_ She asked. He told her.

_"A tomb in the sky?" _Her "voice" sounded delighted._ "To travel the cosmos?" _Vincent nodded.

"I thought...you'd like it."

For the first time in...a very long while, Lucrecia sounded...hopeful.

_"I do. I do, very much, Vincent. But don't you worry, with me gone, you'll be a relic?"_

He smiled; his smiles came rarely, but he was thinking of his friends and despite his recent shame with Yuffie, they meant the world to him.

"I am not alone, Lucrecia. There are others, cursed with immortality like me."

They were silent, and he could feel her perusing his thoughts. Oddly, the intrusion did not bother him.

_"You have friends." _He nodded._ "Friends that you live with, that you fought...my son with. You are...close." She smiled. "And a girlfriend? Oh, no, she's simply a companion. But...?"_

He quirked his eyebrow at the woman. "But?"

_"But you care for her, Vincent."_ She sighed, a tinkling noise in the air. _"Your feelings for me left long ago. I knew that. But you could fall in love again, Vincent."_

He shook his head. "I don't...want to." He closed his eyes. "Once was enough."

_"Have I ruined you so? That you deny love?" _Another sigh. _"Very well, Vincent. If my leaving will let you love again, I will do it."_

He placed his hand on the statue. "I can't promise you that I will fall in love again, Lucrecia, but it would make me happy, that you would get one last adventure." He smiled again. "It would bring me peace."

_"Then it would be worth it. And I think..."_ She was fixed in mako, but Vincent could have sworn that she slumped backward, relaxed. _"I think I will enjoy myself, for the first time in a very long while."_

**- - - - - **

The excavation took a bit longer than expected. Vincent was adamant against putting Lucrecia into any sort of pod or ship, feeling that she'd enjoy the cosmos encased in Mako. Shalua and Melissa, Cid's eldest daughter, both insisted that if this were the case, they had to shape the Mako into a smoother, ovoid shape. Despite Mako being softer than glass, it was very brittle, and they had to cut lower than they'd originally planned to get the crystal out of the ground. That matter taken care of, the Mako was shaped into a rough egg shape and smoothed down.

"She looks like a summon." Yuffie said, when they were finished. She regarded the undead woman for a long while, contemplative.

The launch was scheduled for two days hence. Until then, Lucrecia and her three relics were staying in Rocket Town. Cid's old house had been opened up to them, at Shalua's insistence.

At first, Shalua balked at the idea of them being aboard a launch; one had to train vigorously for years and years to become an astronaut. But then her mother pointed out that the trio had been aboard the famous Shinra No. 26 when Cid made his extraordinary takeoff into the void of space, so it was old news to them. Arrangements were made.

Yuffie pointed out, the night before the launch, that Vincent really was the only one who needed to go up. "Not that I wouldn't enjoy being in space again..." She said, almost wistfully. "But this is Vincent's goodbye. You know? If he wants to go alone, he ought to be able to."

She'd said it as if he weren't sitting right next to her, at Cid's old scratched kitchen table. Cigarette burns marred the surface and there were rings from old cups of tea. It was the same table that had been there when they'd met Cid the first time.

They were quiet for a good quarter of an hour, pondering. Cloud spoke then.

"Yuffie's right, Vincent. If you want to go alone, we'll stay behind. It's only right."

Vincent looked down at his hands and spoke, clearly.

"I think it is a good chance for all of us." He said. "To let go. For me, it's saying goodbye to the woman I once loved. For you, Cloud, it's a chance to let go of the hold Sephiroth had on you." Cloud looked startled; that he was still angry at Lucrecia for unleashing Sephiroth on the world was a secret he thought he'd kept hidden from Vincent. "And Yuffie, it's a chance to let go of an old grudge." The way he quirked his eyebrow made her think that perhaps he'd been very much aware of her crush on him during her younger years. "I would rather make the journey with the friends of today than the ghosts of the past."

Cloud smiled a little and nodded. Oddly enough, Yuffie had the same reaction. Vincent had expected her to do something immature.

_She really has grown up._ He thought. The concept pleased him.

"Well, then, I suggest we get a good night's sleep." Vincent stood and walked toward the room he and Cloud were sharing. "We have launch at first light tomorrow."

**- - - - - **

Yuffie couldn't sleep. Cid's old couch was uncomfortable, for one, and for another – she was restless.

Finally, she put on her pajama pants (she slept in her underwear and a camisole) and a pair of slippers, and tiptoed out of the house.

Quietly, she walked from Cid's house to the barn in his old backyard, where Lucrecia's statue was being kept for safekeeping. Once she got to the barn she relaxed, and then laughed shortly – there was no reason to keep quiet. Rocket Town was huge, and the sounds of a large city at night definitely masked her steps. She shrugged and faced the woman.

_"Yuffie Kisaragi." _The voice, calm, echoed in her head. She let out a startled squeak before coughing and straightening up.

"Lucrecia." She murmured.

_"Have you come to wish me to the depths of Hell?"_ Lucrecia sounded depressed. _"Not that I wouldn't deserve it, of course. I have heard your thoughts."_

Yuffie blinked. "Is it that obvious?" She whispered, putting her hand to the ovoid of materia. "That I dislike you?"

_"To those who are infused with Jenova, it is." _There was a kind smile in her voice. _"Vincent and Cloud, for instance, they both know."_

Yuffie winced. "I'm sorry." She said.

_"It's of no consequence. I do not matter anymore." _She was tired, Yuffie realized. Lucrecia Crescent was tired beyond belief, and she wanted to die.

"I hardly see how you can say that you don't matter." Yuffie sat down in front of the orb, unaware that she was copying Vincent, and hiked her knees up under he elbows. "You held on to Vincent's heart all these years – you were Sephiroth's mother...You discovered Chaos, that's pretty big."

A laugh. _"I haven't held Vincent's heart in nearly eighty years, Yuffie Kisaragi. But those other things, yes, they are true...and for that, I deserve anything you could hate me for."_

"I'd love to hate you." Yuffie whispered. "But I can't. If it weren't for you, Vincent'd be dead right now. And it'd just be Cloud and I, and God, that'd be a bore."

Lucrecia laughed again. They were quiet and Yuffie could feel Lucrecia sifting through her memories. Just like with Vincent, it didn't bother her so much, despite her like for secrets. Lucrecia had no life of her own anymore, the least Yuffie could do was let her live vicariously.

_"Oh my."_ Yuffie blushed, knowing she'd come to the memories of her and Vincent's...interlude.

"It was a mistake." Yuffie said, flatly.

_"Maybe he thinks so."_ Lucrecia said. _"But__**you**__ don't."_

Yuffie bit her lip. "I dunno. He and I have ...different opinions on that sort of thing, is all."

Lucrecia's pause was pregnant. _"Have you talked to him? Vincent can sense things, Yuffie, but he is no mind reader. And when it comes to the ways of women, he might as well be a child." _She was quiet again before speaking, and Yuffie knew she was digging through memories again. _"I see. He thinks so highly of you, Yuffie. I do hope that my leaving...eases things between you. I'm sorry."_ There was genuine regret in Lucrecia's voice._ "I suppose I ruined him for everyone who loved him after me."_

"Whoa, whoa, I didn't say I loved him." Yuffie said, her eyebrows shooting up.

_"You didn't have to."_ Lucrecia laughed._ "But it isn't love. Not yet. It could be. I wish it were. There is not enough love in this world, Yuffie Kisaragi, and especially not in the life of Vincent Valentine. That's probably my fault."_

"Good_ lord_, woman, stop blaming yourself for everything." Yuffie stood up and pressed her hand against the crystal again. "You sound like Vincent when we first met him. If you stop blaming yourself for everything, maybe, just maybe, I'll fucking forgive you for being such a fuckup in your younger years. Because God, if there isn't anything I hate more than an emo twat."

An astonished silence, and then more laughter. _"Vincent does not give you enough credit, Yuffie Kisaragi. I will try to forgive myself if you promise that you will not deny love if it comes to you."_

"If only." Yuffie whispered.

**- - - - - **

Vincent had asked Yuffie to pick out something to say goodbye to Lucrecia with. He claimed it was his ignorance of new music, but Yuffie thought maybe it was just that he didn't want to cry.

After her conversation with her the night before, Yuffie felt a bit more charitable, and she chose a newer song that was heartfelt and soft. It spoke of trials and tribulations, and the ending was appropriate to her.

So it happened that after blast-off, while they were making the slingshot around the moon to gather inertia up to launch Lucrecia out into space, Yuffie was twiddling with the PA system. While they counted the minutes to release, she pressed play, and then joined the other two at the rear of the shuttle, where the precious cargo was stored.

_Amen..._

The force field was all that kept them from being sucked into space as the rear lock irised open. The ovoid orb was clamped down or else it would have gone too.

_Amen..._

"Approaching lunar rendezvous." Shalua's voice rang out. She'd decided to pilot them for their all-important mission. "One minute and counting." The dial above them began counting down, and Yuffie bit her lip.

_With hands held high into a sky so blue_

_The ocean opens up to swallow you_

"Goodbye, Lucrecia." Vincent whispered. He put his hand flat against the force field as the clamp carried the egg toward the airlock.

"Ten seconds." Shalua reminded them. Yuffie closed her eyes and let her tears begin to leak out.

_With hands held high into a sky so blue_

_The ocean opens up to swallow you_

"I hope you have a good journey, Lucrecia." She said. Without thinking, her hand sought Vincent's, and they stood there, clutching hands and staring after the woman who had inadvertently brought the three of them together for all eternity.

Shalua was conspicuously silent as the clamp released Lucrecia. The trio waved goodbye, and the music began to dwindle to the end.

_With hands held high into a sky so blue_

_The ocean opens up to swallow you..._

**- - - - - **

Vincent found Yuffie in her quarters.

They'd awkwardly separated earlier, after Yuffie had fallen to her knees in tears as the scientist began her final journey. She hadn't meant to, but Vincent had been brought to his knees as well because of their mutual death-grip on each other's hands. He'd felt obliged to offer her his shoulder; she seemed more upset at Lucrecia's departure than he was.

The shuttle's rooms were not large; one barely had room to stretch in them. The only reason they'd been given quarters was because Shalua had business at the Lunar Base, so they would be staying there for two or three days before departing. She assured them that the quarters on the base were larger; it was simply a matter of finding a parking spot. That alone could take up to a day, depending on the air traffic.

The ninja was laying on her tiny bed, curled into a ball around her pillow. Recent tear stains on it made him realize that she had not felt better after they'd parted ways and it made him feel guilty.

"...Yuffie?" He asked.

"Mmmmmph." She replied. Her face was still buried in her pillow.

"...What?"

"Mmmmph!" She was more insistent, but he still couldn't understand her.

"Yuffie, I can't understand you." He said, a little bit desperately. Finally, she extracted her face from the pillow; if he hadn't already known it, her tearstained eyes would have given her away.

"I'd really like to be alone right now." She said, trying to strengthen her voice.

"I will leave you be if you will answer a few questions for me." He replied. Sniffling, she sat up and hugged the pillow to her as she leaned against the wall her bed was on.

"Go for it." She said, allowing the hoarseness to show through.

"You barely knew Lucrecia, Yuffie, and I know you never liked her." Vincent awkwardly sat on the bed next to her. "Why are you so upset?"

Yuffie did not answer right away; in fact, it took her so long to answer that Vincent got fidgety, and Vincent did not fidget.

"I talked to her last night." She whispered. "And I feel bad for her. She's being cast off as a remnant of the past, even if she regards it as a new adventure. No one is left for her except the universe. Even you've moved on. I just...I don't know. I could be her." A sniff. "I think I probably will be, you know, in the future. All alone."

Vincent's eyes widened. "You think you'll outlive Cloud and I?"

She laughed sadly. "It's possible, I guess. I just never saw the future with you guys in it. I always thought you'd get annoyed and ditch me. I'm used to being alone, it wouldn't hurt my feelings much."

He could sense the lie that it was and a pained expression came across his face. "Yuffie, please believe me when I say I will never...ditch you. I cannot speak for Cloud, but I, at least, will always be around. You will never become Lucrecia."

She smiled. "It's nice of you to say that, Vince. It means a lot." She buried her face back into the pillow. "Nice of you, you know. Considering."

He raised his eyebrow but she couldn't see it, of course, because her face was in the pillow. He had to resort to verbal cues. "Beg pardon?"

"Oh gawd. You're gonna make me _say_ it?" She sighed and extracted her face from her bedding. "I'm really sorry, Vincent. You know what I'm talking about. I'm really, really,_ really_ sorry." He tried putting a confused look on his face and she frowned at him. "You have the memory of an elphadunk, Vincent. You don't forget anything. I know better."

He sighed as she blushed and shoved the pillow in her face again. "Yuffie, please. I should have -"

"Shut up!" She shoved the pillow to the side and sat up on her knees, almost cracking her head on the low ceiling in her haste to get up and face him. Her finger was thrust at him, accusingly. "Shut the hell up! Jesus Christ, every time something happens you think it's your Goddamn fault, and usually it's _not_, Vincent! And this one is pretty much entirely on my shoulders. For Leviathan's sake, I pretty much _raped_ you, and you're sitting there blaming yourself!"

The shock showed on his face, and he clearly had no response lined up. "I-"

"I nothing! Nothing! Stop it!" She got very close to his face, and he could see that she was quite angry, indeed. "Vincent Valentine, you are going to stop blaming yourself for everything you think is your fault, right now. You are going to forgive yourself for being such a colossal _douchebag_for the past century and you're going to knock it the fuck off. Right now. Or I swear to all you hold sacred I am going to beat the crap out of you from here back to Rocket Town. Okay?"

"It's not that _easy_, Yuffie!" Vincent stood so fast that he did crack his head on the ceiling; he was a great deal taller than your average astronaut. Ignoring the flare of pain, he started pacing, head bowed to prevent a recurrence.

"Yes, it is. 'Hey, Vinnie, you're being a noob. Let's stop!' 'Okay, Vincent, let's do.' There, done!" Yuffie crossed her arms and her face fell. "I...I'm not going to let you blame yourself for something that was my fault."

He froze. "I am not going to shoulder all of the blame, Yuffie." He said. "I will admit that part of it is your fault. If that makes you happy."

"It was entirely my fault, Vince-"

"No, it wasn't." He closed his eyes in pain. "Yuffie..." He turned toward her and knelt at the side of the bed. "Please understand me when I say that I meant no disrespect to you."

"Disrespect?" Her eyes widened.

He frowned and looked away. "With my...indiscretion."

Her mouth formed an O, one that reminded him of things that he figured he'd better keep his mind off of if they were going to have a civilized conversation. "Indiscretion? Vincent, that's like a fucking mark of pride for a woman."

"Excuse me?" This was not the response Vincent had expected.

"Yeah!" She was smiling now, almost smirking. "I mean, what woman wouldn't brag about that? 'I gave Vincent Valentine, Mr. Emotionless himself, a hard on.' It's seriously like...something they should make a fucking award for." She smiled, a genuine smile this time. "Either I'm just _that_fucking hot, or there's something really awesome wrong with me."

Vincent was slowly becoming beet-red, and Yuffie bit her lip trying not to laugh.

"I'm sorry to embarrass you, Vince. But it's true. You didn't disrespect me, or make me uncomfortable. It made me think I was pretty, you know, for a minute." Her smile got a little sadder for a moment. "I just took it too far, is all."

Vincent clearly had no response for this revelation, and he was simply staring at her as if she had sprouted a third ear in the middle of her forehead. Yuffie's smile grew more nervous.

"What?" She asked. She wiped her forehead. "Is there something on my face?"

Vincent blinked and seemed to realize that he was being impolite. He averted his gaze and closed his eyes.

"You don't think you're pretty?" He said it so quietly she barely heard him, despite her Jenova-enhanced hearing.

"No, not really." His head jerked up in astonishment and she continued. "I mean, I'm alright looking. I'll admit that much. But, you know, I'm not pretty, or gorgeous or anything. I'm a tomboy. You know?" She shrugged. "I came to terms with it a long time ago."

He was quiet, looking at her, making her nervous again. Then he did something that really amazed her.

He took off his glove, and grabbed her hand.

There were only two other times in her life that she'd touched Vincent skin-to-skin. One was when Rosso the Crimson had torn the Protomateria out of his chest. She'd felt the edges of the wound before they closed up, and then had tried her best to cover up the hole in his clothing. And of course, there was a month ago.

"It is a credit to you, Yuffie, that you are humble after all of these years." He said. "But it is a travesty that you do not know your own beauty. I would not do this for many people."

Yuffie gasped. She knew that Jenova's cells enhanced psychic abilities. She had learned how to block them off so long ago that it was second nature. Having that wall broken down – and by Vincent, of all people – was a shock.

Suddenly, she was Vincent, and she saw things through his eyes. Her vision was no better or worse than his, but she did not see herself the way he saw her.

She saw, through his eyes, a beautiful, graceful woman, a siren amongst men, who's smile brightened his day and who's voice had brought him back from death before. A woman he'd thought was dead and had defied it; a woman who had matured into everything she could have been years ago. And yet, still the same little girl who would cheer everyone on even through the bleakest moments. She saw memories of her – winking at him before taking off to shoot up Deepground – running toward him happily as he returned from Lucrecia's cave from the last time – laughing and convincing him to dance with her at some long-ago festival – walking down the stairs of Shinra Manor in kimono – stepping out of the hot tub, an elfin beauty who defied description.

She gasped again and yanked her hand out of his. He looked at her meaningfully.

"I'm...I'm not...I'm not like that, Vince." She whispered, rubbing her hand. "I'm not...innocent like that. You know that! You know that I'm...not perfect."

"No." Vincent shook his head. "No one is perfect, Yuffie." He stood and walked toward her door, pulling his glove on while he did so. He paused.

"But you're a damn sight closer than anyone else I know."

_Author's Notes: I know almost nothing about laying concrete, so if anyone who's reading this does, please feel free to correct me on the proper procedure._


	8. Wanna be loved

**Neverending Heroes**

_**Chapter Eight – Wanna be loved**_

_I got another confession  
I fell to temptation  
And there is no question  
There was some connection_

_I've gotta follow my heart  
No matter how far  
I've gotta roll the dice  
Never look back, and never think twice_

-- Papa Roach,_ To Be Loved_

Cloud did not know what had happened between Yuffie and Vincent, but the underlying tension that had been permeating their group for the past month disappeared after their lunar visit. He knew it the moment he saw Yuffie pointing out familiar landmarks to him on Gaia's surface from the lunar base.

"Look, Vince, there's Wutai!" She exclaimed. "Look, if you use the binoculars, you can kinda see the Pagoda!"

She grabbed Vincent's cloak and pulled him closer to hand him the binoculars. Obligingly, he glanced through them.

"Yes, Yuffie." He said.

She smiled and snagged the binoculars back.

"Look, that ol' crater's filling itself in. 'Bout time! Check it out!" She handed him the binoculars again. And yet again, Vincent looked through them.

"Yes, Yuffie."

Cloud chuckled.

The trip back was uneventful until they re-entered the atmosphere. At that point the entire shuttle began shaking alarmingly and Yuffie paled before grabbing ahold of Vincent's hand in a death grip. Vincent sighed but said nothing.

Cloud studied them for a minute before turning away and smiling to himself.

**- - - - - **

When the house they had designed was finished, Cid's grandson gave them a grand tour. There were four bedrooms (one for each of them and one for Nanaki when he chose to visit) with a bathroom in each, a large professional-style kitchen, a nice dining room, and two living rooms.

Well, one was the rec room and one was the living room, but when Cloud explained that to Yuffie she pointed out that a rec room and a living room were essentially the same damn thing. From that moment on they referred to one room as the "game room" and the other as "the living room."

It was the game room because Yuffie and Cloud hit the stores and got games. They figured, being immortal, they'd have a lot of free time in between learning and traveling and doing things that immortal people do, so it'd be good to have some games. This included a pool table, foozeball, darts, a myriad of board games, chess, checkers and backgammon, and a bunch of video games and video game systems, and a gigantic television to hook the systems up to. Yuffie also got a surround sound system.

"Uh, duh, you can't play video games without surround sound." She said, rolling her eyes.

Cloud got a few comfortable chairs and an entertainment center to set it all up in, while Yuffie picked out books and a bookshelf for Vincent – she figured he wouldn't be playing many video games.

Yuffie also insisted that she and Cloud had to do the rest of the house.

"Oh come on, Vince. If you decorate the house it's gonna look like Dracula lives here." She stuck her tongue out at him and he frowned.

It took them a week to move in. Their things, brought in from the storage unit, did not collectively take up a lot of space. Yuffie went shopping every day, however, usually dragging Cloud or Vincent along. The first day they bought games and furniture. Yuffie forced Vincent to come so he could pick out a bed.

It turned out to be a futile gesture because he picked out the first bed he saw.

"Vince."

"Yes, Yuffie?"

"You won't fit in that bed. It's a kid's twin bed. You're six feet tall. Pick another one."

Vincent turned to her and raised his eyebrow. She sighed.

"Fine. I'll pick one out."

She wound up picking one out for Cloud, too, so she got them all the same bed. It was one of those memory-foam mattresses, king sized for each of them. She picked out frames based on what she knew about the guys, and got them four pillows each.

Then, armed with the "king sized" designation, she sent them off to buy themselves sheets and pillowcases and blankets while she handled payment and delivery of the beds.

After she'd managed to pick out her own bedclothing and a few other things, they went home.

So that week Yuffie declared it "Fill The House" week. Every day she was gone picking things out for their new house. By the time she was done everyone's bank accounts were a little emptier, but they had a comfortable house.

The final touch was when Yuffie hung up their board in the game room. Vincent solemnly crossed off two of his "to do's:" to tear down the mansion and to send Lucrecia to space.

"Might as well cross off one more." Yuffie said, shyly.

He gave her a look.

She smiled. "Well, I was out shopping this week and I found some kids...they were giving out kittens." She smiled and picked up a box with holes in it that was sitting near her chair. Cloud was grinning. "I found one that really reminded me of you, so I got him. He's been living in my room for the past couple of days."

Vincent stared at Yuffie for a second before taking the box. Inside was a tiny kitten; he was all black with the exception of his paws, which were white. He stared up at Vincent solemnly

"How could a cat possibly remind you of me?" Vincent asked, although he was immensely touched by the gift.

"Just wait until you see him hunt flies." Yuffie replied, giggling.

Vincent picked up the kitten and regarded him before turning and crossing off his last "To do."

"So? Whatcha gonna name him?" Yuffie asked.

That question puzzled him. "I don't know." He said. "I've never named anything before."

Cloud looked at Vincent and smiled. "Well, think on it. I think it's time for bed."

**- - - - - **

The next morning, Vincent was woken up by his cat.

The cat had insisted on sleeping next to Vincent. It was an odd feeling, having a warm ball of fur curled up next to his neck.

The cat licked his cheek, which woke him up. He'd almost drawn Cerberus and shot the cat before he realized what was going on.

He made himself a promise to keep the gun in the nightstand drawer at night from now on. Then he sat up, picking up the kitten and staring into it's eyes.

They looked like normal cat eyes until the sun hit them. Then they glowed cranberry red. Vincent smiled.

"Meow." The cat said, reasonably. His smile broadened and he stood, still in the black pajama bottoms Yuffie had bought for him the previous week, and walked out toward the kitchen.

Yuffie was already up, standing at their brand-new food dispenser, picking something for breakfast. "Hey, Vince." She said. Vincent averted his eyes; she was wearing a low-cut, high-rise camisole and short shorts that might as well be underwear.

That cat mewled plaintively. Yuffie glanced over and giggled. "That's adorable, Vince. You're wearing pajama bottoms and socks and you're carrying a kitten. It's almost domestic."

He frowned at her. "What do you suggest I feed him?" He asked.

"Have you picked out a name yet?" Yuffie countered, apparently ignoring him and going back to leaning against the counter and choosing something on the dispenser.

Vincent sighed and turned his head away from the ends of her buttocks peeking out from under her shorts. "No, Yuffie, I have not named him yet."

There was a noise and Yuffie began removing plates to the table; scrambled eggs, sausage, hash browns, toast and fruit, by the looks of it. Some for all of them. Also coffee and orange juice.

Then she removed a small bowl from the dispenser and smiled. "Here, kitty kitty." She set it down on the floor and Vincent released his cat.

"Cat nutrition mix, number 9. Code's 23472. There's a whole section of feline supplements in the dispenser if you wanna look later." She grinned and sauntered over to the table, arranging the plates and silverware.

Vincent was petting his cat, who was eagerly chowing down on the feline supplement Yuffie had provided him with. He glanced over in time to see Yuffie bend over a chair to set the bowl of fruit in the center of the table. The shorty shorts rode upward and exposed more of her buttocks. Vincent gritted his teeth and turned back to the cat.

"Morning, Vince, Yuffie." Cloud said. He did a double take. "Jeez, Yuffie, is that your nightgown or your underwear?"

"Both!" Yuffie exclaimed, smiling. "It's comfortable, so don't you dare try to talk me outta wearing it."

Cloud sighed and sat at the table. He was wearing pajama bottoms as well – purchased by Yuffie, too – but he'd taken the time to put a white undershirt on.

"Hey, Vincent, thought of a name for the cat yet?" Cloud asked, snagging a piece of toast. Vincent sighed.

"No, Cloud, I have not. I'm afraid I'm not very imaginative."

"I have an idea!" Yuffie said, smiling. "How about Yuuta?"

Vincent regarded her wryly. "Gentle?"

"It has a dual meaning! Gentle on one hand, but brave on the other." She smiled. "I like it. It reminds me of the cat, and also kind of you, Vince." She turned and sat at the table.

Vincent sat petting the newly-named Yuuta for a few minutes, getting his heart rate under control. Yuffie thought he was gentle and brave?

How odd some people's perceptions were. Still, he had to blink a few times before he could turn to Yuffie and Cloud and join them for breakfast.

After they finished Yuffie started cleaning up. Cloud excused himself to take a shower and Yuffie turned to Vincent with an evil grin on her face.

"Of course, you know what else Yuuta means, right, Vincent?"

He couldn't believe she was going there. "Of course I do, Yuffie. I speak fluent Wutain."

"You do? I didn't know that." She shrugged. "Anyway, I thought that was appropriate, too." She winked at him.

He blushed, because of course, he knew that Yuuta also meant "Big and thick."

**- - - - - **

That week Cloud began rebuilding Fenrir. He spent most of his time in the garage, tinkering about with pieces of sword and motorcycle parts. That left Vincent and Yuffie alone, awkwardly.

It started one day when Yuffie was going through her morning routine. She normally did it in her room but she'd decided to do it in the game room that morning. Vincent happened to walk in to get a book and saw her finishing her chakras with some heavy meditation before she lashed out at a stand-up dummy with her fists.

He watched as she fought, fluidly, and then went through her final move and kneeled to her invisible partner.

She was wearing another skimpy night outfit, and Vincent vaguely found himself wishing he was sparring with her. Shaking that thought out of his head, he asked her about the chakras.

"It's just my normal routine." She said, wiping the sweat off her face with a towel and smiling at him. "Chakras, meditation, sparring. Keeps me fit."

Vincent did not have to give her a once-over to know that she was, indeed, fit.

"Meditation?" He asked, interested. That was on his "to learn" list.

"Yeah, it's a big part of Wutain martial arts." She said. "Very relaxing and calming, and very focusing. Even a second of meditation on the battlefield can mean the difference between winning and losing."

He watched her cool down with some stretches before he asked.

"How would one go about meditating?"

"It can be really hard, Vince." She was stretching one leg out and pulling back on her foot. It was a little distracting. "You have to completely clear your mind. Picture nothing. Just a big white expanse of nothing, and then you inhale...you let the power of the Planet course through you and center you through that nothing. One breath is all it takes, but it can take years to master." She smiled and cocked her head. "Why, thinking of learning?"

"It's on my board." He was taken aback at how involved the process seemed to be.

"Well, you're one step up from a beginning student." Yuffie said. "Because you're used to staying still for long periods of time."

"How do you come to that conclusion?" He asked.

"You're a sniper, Vince. Snipers are patient." She grinned. "I know more about you from your fighting style than you could ever know, Vinnie. It's a special brand of...well, I guess psychology. They teach it to every martial artist on the planet. I bet Tifa knew how to do it, too."

She threw the towel over her shoulder and started heading out. "C'mon, Vince. We can discuss meditation while I get something to eat. Also, if you're gonna stare at my ass, it might as well be while I'm keeping myself from passing out, eh?"

Vincent's eyes snapped upward. She gave him a devilish grin and sauntered toward the kitchen.

**- - - - - **

Yuffie may have acted cool, calm and collected in the game room, but when she got to the kitchen and noticed that Vincent had not directly followed her, she leaned her head up against the fridge. Her heart was pounding.

Because she'd called him on it. The past week, since they'd moved in, he'd been checking her out. Him being Vincent, he was unobtrusive about it, but he had been, and she knew he'd been. It didn't help that she was wearing her night attire around a good chunk of the time, but Vincent Valentine had been checking her out.

"Yuffie, are you okay?" Vincent's voice said. She turned toward the noise and saw him standing in the entryway of the kitchen.

"I'm fine." She said. "I just...need to eat something." She gave him a weak smile and opened the fridge.

"Sit down." He said, gently. "I'll make you something."

She did as he instructed and put her head down on the table, cursing herself. It was like she was 16 again, and she wasn't. She was 96, almost 97, years old. She shouldn't be acting like a giddy little schoolgirl. Especially over Vincent, who...who...

Who wasn't interested in falling in love again. No matter how much he enjoyed looking at her body, and no matter how much he admired her. No matter how beautiful he thought she was, he was not looking for love. Nor was he looking for sex, which was really too bad because he did things to her body chemistry that she couldn't explain properly.

She needed to get laid. Badly.

Vincent hand-prepared her a very nice brunch. She ate all of it, thanked him profusely, gave him a hug, and run upstairs to the shower. After she showered, she put on makeup and a cute outfit, and then announced to Vincent that she was going out.

"I've got my phone if you need me." She called out as she left.

Vincent raised his eyebrow at the closed door, wondering what the hell had just happened.

**- - - - - **

"That is sooooo cool!" Yuffie said, feigning ignorance. She'd been out all day, trying everything she knew how to work off frustration. She shopped, she went to a movie, she went out to eat. Finally she settled in a mall food court and introduced herself to a 22-year-old working at one of the punk stores.

It did not occur to her that he was not her usual type. He had long black hair and wore all black. He even had metal knuckles – they were jewelry and not weapon, but the resemblance was there. He was Punk Vincent.

By the time he got off of work they'd agreed to meet at his place. "My place is no good." She said, snapping a piece of gum. "I've got roomies, absolutely no privacy. It sucks."

Yup, the ol' Kisaragi charm never failed. She knew when to smile and when to bob her head and when to wink. They always fell for it.

Except for the one guy who mattered.

**- - - - - **

Vincent had not consciously followed Yuffie. He'd decided to wash the clothes Shera had made him and was wearing normal clothing, albeit all black. While the clothes were washing he decided to walk to the local pet store and buy some supplies for his new kitten.

Groaning, for he knew the local pet store was at the mall, he walked to the garage and informed Cloud that he'd be out for a few hours. Yuffie, he explained, had already left to run some errands.

As he walked out the door he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror Yuffie had placed there. He did not look like himself, and for some reason it pleased him.

The mall was not a place Vincent frequented. He stopped to look at the store directory before heading off to the pet store.

After he was done there he made the decision to stop in the food court and get something to drink before heading home. It was a twist of fate that he happened to catch a glimpse of Yuffie in the corner of his eye.

"My place is no good." She popped some gum. "I've got roomies, absolutely no privacy. It sucks." Vincent turned and looked.

She was sitting at one of the food court tables with a young man. His hair was long and dark and he wore all black. Yuffie was rubbing her foot up his leg.

There was not a doubt in his mind what Yuffie was planning on doing.

"Well, I get off of work in two hours." The man said, grinning at her. "Meet me there?" He snagged a napkin and wrote something down. "Here, my phone number. Call me if something comes up."

"Will do." She winked. "See you 'round, Mike."

Vincent got a whole meal and sat a few tables away from Yuffie, behind a pillar so that he could see her, but she wouldn't see him. He watched her.

For two hours, she sat, eating, playing games on her phone, and doodling. Then she stood and walked out of the food court.

Vincent dumped the remainders of his meal – most of it, actually, he'd lost his appetite early on – grabbed his purchases, and followed her.

Mike was waiting for her at the entrance to the punk store in the mall. She smiled and waved, and they kissed deeply before sauntering off hand in hand.

Vincent frowned. He was not going to follow her to this person's house. He had too many things to carry and it was none of his business what Yuffie decided to do with her life.

However, he did follow them to the convenience store that they stopped at. When he was certain they'd purchased condoms, he walked home.

He was setting the automatic watering system he'd bought for the cat when the thought occurred to him that Yuffie had chosen his lookalike to pair with. The realization brought a small smirk to his face before he discovered that he, Vincent Valentine, was jealous.

It caused a slight breathless feeling to course through him. Jealousy was an unfamiliar feeling in him; even when Lucrecia had chosen Hojo, he hadn't been jealous. Depressed, upset, yes. Jealous, no.

It both confused and frightened him. Why was he jealous of Yuffie, and even more – did he want to know why?

**- - - - - **

When Yuffie came home that night she was whistling.

"Hey, Vince!" She said, grinning. "What's for dinner?"

"Spaghetti." He said, shortly.

"Ooooh, good, is it that stuff you made before?"

"Yes."

"Awesome! I'm starving." She beamed. "I'll see you in a few, Vince."

Cloud was perusing automotive blueprints at dinner and did not notice the tension. Yuffie did not notice the tension, either, because she was in a good mood. It was only after Cloud left that she realized how quiet it was.

"So, how was your day, Vince?" She asked.

"It was a day."

"But yeah, good, bad? Mediocre? I mean, something had to happen while I was gone!"

"I got the cat a litter box and a water dish." He said. He was gathering up the dishes.

"Oh, great! I was won...dering..." It was at that point that Yuffie realized that the pet shop was at the mall.

"I also got him some toys." Vincent continued, pretending that Yuffie had not faltered.

"Wh-what kind of toys?" She asked.

"A mouse on a string and a ball that's off-balance so that it will move by itself." He said. He sounded distant, even to himself.

They were quiet for a minute.

"So you saw me, then." She said, softly.

"It's none of my business." He replied, trying hard not to pay attention to the roaring jealousy within him.

"Yeah, but I know it makes you uncomfortable." She was near tears. "Oh, God, Vincent, I'm so sorry..."

"You aren't accountable to me, Yuffie." He said. "I'm sorry if I gave you that impression."

He turned toward her and was startled to find that she was crying.

"I know, Vince..." She was dejected. "I just...I'm really sorry. Really, really sorry. I just needed..."

Vincent raised his eyebrow but she didn't finish her sentence.

"You see?" She hiccuped, holding her face in her hands. "See what you've done to me, Vincent?"

"Me?" He stared at her. "I fail to see how I had anything to do with this."

"It's not your fault." She brought her knees to her chest. "It never is. It never fucking is." More sobs. "I can't help it. I'm around you all day and I just needed...release. This is what I've resorted to." She let out a hollow laugh. "Finding guys with long black hair to sleep with at malls. That's just...fucking...great." She threw the chair down and stormed from the kitchen, to her room.

Vincent stared after her. Clearly, she had gone insane.

He righted her chair and finished cleaning up the kitchen and dining room before he sought her out.

**- - - - - **

He didn't even knock.

She was sitting on her bed, propped up on pillows, her knees hiked up to her chin – her normal self-despondent position. She was wearing a short skirt and her panties were showing, but she didn't care at this point – besides, he'd seen it all already.

"Yuffie." He said, opening the door and peering in.

"Vincent." She said. "There, we know each other's names."

He snorted and walked in, with no invitation.

"You know, it's not polite to just walk into people's rooms." She said.

"It's not polite to accuse people of causing your insanity." He said, his voice clearly confused.

She laughed. "I guess it isn't." She did not continue the discussion, only sat there, looking at her comforter.

"Yu-"

"I don't want to talk about it." She said. Her voice was hard; she did not want to argue the point.

"Well, Yuffie, I do." Vincent's voice was just as hard. "Seeing as we three are going to be together for a while, we need to try to keep the peace. As unpleasant as it sounds, we might actually have to talk through things instead of simply stewing for weeks on end."

Yuffie laughed outrageously. "Who are you, and what have you done with my Vinnie Valentine?"

He raised his eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"Vincent, you're not exactly the sort to suggest talking through things. You're...you."

He sighed, and then looked at her. "What is bothering you, Yuffie? I promise, I will try not to interfere in your personal life, if that's what I have done. I apologize, it was not my place."

"That's not it, Vince." She said. "And I _really_ don't wanna talk about it, okay?"

He stood uneasily. "I'm sorry if I did anything wrong, Yuffie."

"You didn't do anything, Vincent. Just go, please."

He frowned uncertainly and nodded. "Alright, Yuffie." One last glance back at her and he was gone.

She sighed and fished Mike's phone number out of her purse. Carefully and deliberately, she tore the napkin up and threw it into her garbage can.

_Author's Notes: Yuuta has several meanings, actually. it's the -ta suffix that actually means "big and thick," but Yuu has several meanings depending on which ideogram they're choosing. Whatever, I like my explanation better. --evil grin--_

_Ohhhh, sexual tension! Bow chicka bow wow! I love my muse right now, seriously._

_Read? Review!_


	9. I bleed it out

**Neverending Heroes**

_**Chapter Nine – I bleed it out**_

_Go, stop the show  
Choppy words and a sloppy flow  
Shotgun opera, lock and load  
Cock it back, and then watch it go  
Mama, help me, I've been cursed  
Death is rolling in every verse  
Candy paint on his brand-new hearse  
Can't contain him, he knows he works  
Fuck, this hurts, I won't lie  
It doesn't matter how hard I try  
Half the words don't mean a thing  
And I know that I won't be satisfied  
So why try ignoring him?  
Make it a dirt dance floor again  
Say your prayers and stomp it out  
When they bring that chorus in_

-- Linkin Park,_Bleed It Out_

The next day Yuffie asked Vincent about shooting a gun.

"I want to learn." She said. "And you're the only one I know who knows how."

He cocked his eyebrow; neither had forgotten the incident from the night before but they had come to an unspoken agreement to not discuss it. "I'm afraid I'm not a good repository for knowledge about firearms training, Yuffie."

"What are you talking about? I've seen you in battle, you jackass. I know what you can do with a gun."

He sighed and sat up straighter in his chair. "All of my fighting skills come from my years in the Turks. I was not taught a methodology for it; rather, I was trained to react instinctively. My fighting is the result of years of ingrained training. It's habit, not skill."

"I call bullshit." Yuffie replied, crossing her arms.

Vincent shrugged. "Call it whatever you wish, Yuffie, but I doubt I can help you."

"Well, you know about guns, at least, right?" She said, smiling. He nodded. "Well, then, you can at least come with me and help me pick out a good gun. I don't wanna get fleeced."

He sighed again. "Very well, Yuffie." He rose from the chair. "Let's go."

**- - - - - **

Yuffie bought three guns. When quizzed as to why she'd need three, she simply grinned and said "Just cuz."

One was a pistol, similar in design to Vincent's Cerberus but without the decorations. It only had two barrels.

Another was a high-powered rifle, good for hunting. The deciding factor was that ammunition for this kind of gun was cheaper than another of the same quality. Vincent snorted at that, but said nothing.

The last was another handgun; small, compact, and streamlined. Vincent had never seen one like it before but it was undeniably a good weapon.

After they purchased the guns, spare clips, ammunition and other accessories, Vincent insisted that Yuffie take them to the local shooting range to test them out. "The area is too populated, Yuffie; you cannot simply shoot a gun anywhere. Not anymore." So that afternoon found them tacking up paper targets and loading clips.

Vincent showed her how to do so. "I don't suggest pre-loading clips unless you feel a fight is imminent." He said, sardonically. "The bullets have explosive powder in them and it's best that they are kept in the box, in a safe, unless they're going to be used."

"Yes, sir." Yuffie replied. She popped a salute. "Relax, Vince. I'm not a total moron. I know how dangerous guns can be."

He gestured for her to take her stance. Her target was traveling downrange, and he unconsciously found himself examining her posture; completely incorrect for firing a handgun.

"You're holding it wrong." He said automatically. "Remove your hand from the slide. It moves when you fire it and it will tear your skin. Keep your hand on the grip, and away from the barrel, which will get hot and burn you."

"See? You know more than you're letting on." Yuffie said. She smirked and slid her ear protection headset into place. Her eye coverings were already on.

Vincent peered toward the end of the range; his eyesight was quite good and he could see it as well as if he were standing next to it.

He glanced back at Yuffie. She inhaled and closed her eyes, hands tightening over the pistol grip. Then she exhaled and her eyes shot open.

Before she was done exhaling she'd shot off all twelve rounds. She cleared the chamber and set the gun down, peering toward the target.

Vincent found himself impressed. "Very good." He said. Yuffie hit the return button, smirking.

The target traveled back uprange; it was a simple bullseye target. All of her shots had landed in the black.

"That's meditation at work, I guess." Yuffie said as she brought down the target. "Steadies the hand."

They stayed at the gun range for the remainder of the evening, until the attendant came by and told them they were closing for the night. Yuffie had Vincent fire off a few rounds with each of the guns and examined his stance and posture, checking for things she may have missed.

"Firing a gun is easy, Yuffie." Vincent said. "The important things, the things that people tend to miss, are simple ones. Like not shooting oneself in the foot. Make sure your safety is engaged."

Yuffie looked up from the gun case, where she'd been stowing her weapon. "Why? It's empty."

"It is a good habit to get into. What if a round was left in the chamber and you forgot to safety it? It could discharge while you're traveling home and kill somebody. Make sure, Yuffie, that you never kill somebody who doesn't deserve it." His eyes narrowed. "This is not a toy."

"Uh, I'm completely aware of who I should and shouldn't be killing, Vince. Although right now, you're treading a fine line between the two lists." She glared at him, snapped the safety on, and roughly gathered her gear about her before leaving.

He watched her leave with a raised eyebrow. When he got home, some hours later, Yuffie had crossed "How to shoot a gun" off of her list, and had added another thing under "To do:"

"Try not to kill Vincent."

**- - - - - **

One of the items Yuffie had purchased for the game room was a stand-up fighting dummy, specifically made for martial arts. Because she had no sparring partner – after all, Tifa was long dead, and she was the only one in the group who knew anything about fighting hand-to-hand – it had to do for Yuffie. Vincent and Cloud found her there later that night.

She was wearing a pair of short athletic shorts, a sports bra, and wrist guards. She was also covered in sweat and punching the dummy ferociously.

Both men could hear her muttering under her breath but what she was saying was completely unintelligible.

"Yuffie, are you okay?" Cloud asked, concerned.

"I'm fine." She snarled, punching the dummy in the head before turning and launching a roundhouse kick in it's direction.

"It doesn't look like it." Cloud was taken aback. "I mean, you're yelling at me and beating the poor dummy to death."

"I'm FINE." This was accompanied with a jumping kick at the dummy's midsection.

The men left the room and huddled near the doorway.

"I will take care of it." Vincent said, dismissing Cloud. At the blond's quizzical glance he said "I believe this may be my fault; I think I upset her today."

"It would be great, you know, if the three of us could just fucking get along, for once." Cloud rolled his eyes. Then he headed toward the garage.

Vincent closed his eyes briefly before going back into the game room.

"Yuffie."

She ignored him, and continued beating the poor dummy to a pulp.

"We need to talk."

"No, we don't, Vince." She said. She stopped suddenly and turned toward him. "There's nothing wrong. I'm just trying to find a way to deal with my frustration that doesn't involve going out and screwing random guys. Okay? Leave me alone, please." Then, ignoring him, she turned back to the dummy and jabbed at it's unisex face.

Vincent said nothing and simply crossed his arms and leaned against the door jamb. Waiting. Watching.

Yuffie let loose with a frustrated burst of air and turned toward the door, fully intending to exit the room. Vincent caught hold of her upper arm on the way out.

"Yuffie, there's something wrong with you." He said, peering into her face. "It has worried Cloud, and even me."

Yuffie closed her eyes and took a deep breath, before looking him squarely in his eyes. "Vincent, it's nothing that you can fix. Trust me. I'll get through it. Just...leave me be for a while."

He released his grip on her and watched her walk toward her room. Because he hadn't changed back into his normal gear, anyone who was near could have seen the worried from that crossed his features. It was not Vincent Valentine's normal look, and anyone who knew him knew that something was definitely wrong.

Unfortunately, the reason he was worried did not see, and did not realize exactly how worried he was.

**- - - - - **

For several weeks, they existed in a sort of half-life. The laughter that had been there, between the three friends, had gone. Cloud absorbed himself in rebuilding his old motorcycle; Yuffie spent all of her spare time practicing. When quizzed about it, she claimed it kept her calm.

Vincent, however, began meditating. Using his conversation with Yuffie on the subject as a guide, he taught himself how to bring the calmness one needed in battle. He found it was quite settling and whenever he worried about Yuffie, he would unconsciously slip into meditation. It brought balance.

Many small victories were celebrated alone those weeks; the day Yuffie successfully shot an entire clip in the dead center of a target, Vincent and Cloud were at home. When Vincent managed to convince the cat that the litter box, and not his dirty clothes pile, was definitely a better place to urinate, Yuffie was out back practicing and Cloud had gone to the store, searching for an antique alternator. When Cloud finally received word that a Wutain swordsmith could forge the replacement blades he needed to make Fenrir truly functional, Vincent had gone to the pet store again, and Yuffie was at the gun range.

However, the day that Cloud finished Fenrir, everyone was home.

He walked into the game room; oddly enough, Vincent and Yuffie were both there. Yuffie was playing a fighting game and Vincent was reading.

"It's done." Cloud said, a slow smile spreading across his face. Yuffie put her game on pause, and Vincent set his book down. "Fenrir's done."

"Really?" Yuffie asked, her face lighting up. She stood. "Can we see?" That she was speaking for Vincent did not strike either man as odd, for Vincent wanted to see as well and would not have asked.

"Yes." Cloud led them to the garage, where the antique, custom bike stood in all it's glory. There Vincent nodded approval and Yuffie asked for a ride, after oohing and aahing over it for a while.

"After you get your first ride in, of course." She said, smiling. "You've gotta go out alone first."

Cloud nodded and then paused. "I think...I want to take a trip." He said, looking at the bike. Then he closed his eyes before looking at the two of them. "Just me and Fenrir. Just for a while. A few weeks. A month at most." He was obviously asking them if they thought they would refrain from hurting each other in that time; asking their permission to abandon them.

Vincent simply shrugged; Cloud had expected no protest from the gunslinger. It was Yuffie...

Yuffie's mind was in turmoil. Cloud was essentially the glue that kept their trio together. Were it not for him, she'd have left numerous times, all relating to her strange feelings for Vincent. Cloud was the older brother she'd never had, and she didn't know if she'd still be here when he returned.

But he needed this, and she could sense it. She smiled brightly, ignoring the feeling of impending doom in her chest.

"Ooh, that sounds neat. If you go to Gongaga, bring me back a pineapple!" Only someone who knew her very well could tell that she was disturbed, and Cloud did not. He smiled faintly and told them that he'd be leaving the next morning.

Vincent, however, eyed the ninja. He could tell that she desperately did not want Cloud to leave, and was not willing to say that aloud. But he did not bring up his suspicions; instead he and Yuffie both wished Cloud well on his journey.

He was gone the next morning when they woke up.

**- - - - - **

To say that things changed would be wrong. Things went on exactly as they had been; Yuffie and Vincent pretty much kept to themselves that first week. It was only after that week, a week of having nothing but Yuuta for company, that Vincent confronted the shinobi.

"Why didn't you want Cloud to leave?" The voice startled her; she'd been going through her chakras in her room, preparing to meditate before sleep, and she jumped before turning toward him.

"What do you mean?" She asked. Her voice betrayed her; a little wobble on "what" showed that Vincent had hit the nail on the head.

"I know you did not want Cloud to leave. And yet you acted as if you were okay with it." Vincent strode toward her and she backed up, intimidated by his confrontational manner. It was very unusual in him.

"I..." She stopped moving backward when the backs of her knees encountered the edge of her bed; she was cornered. Well and truly cornered.

Vincent sighed and sat down on the futon couch she had in her room. This made her relax a little bit.

"I apologize, Yuffie. I have only had the cat as a companion for the last few days. I suppose it has made me..."

"Grumpy?" Yuffie suggested. A small smile came across Vincent's face.

"Yes."

They were quiet for a good deal of time; Vincent wondered why he'd been so confrontational. Yuffie wondered why he was suddenly so quiet.

"To answer your question." Yuffie said, her voice sounding unnaturally loud while it broke the silence. "I did not want Cloud to leave because I felt he was the only thing that kept me from running away."

Vincent blinked; it felt as if someone had hit him upside the head, and it almost hurt.

"Cloud is the only reason you stayed?" He asked, quietly.

"No." Yuffie sighed and sat on her bed. "Cloud was...sort of a balance. When I felt out of control, like I wanted to run, Cloud was what made me see reason." She smiled. "I never even talked to him about it, it was just the fact that, you know...he was there. He's like...a wise older brother, you know? He's stable."

A sense of relief filled Vincent, and that confused him more.

"Why did you want to run?" He asked, quietly.

Yuffie did not reply.

He turned toward her and saw that shock was written on her face as she stared at him. Shock and hurt.

"Yuffie?" He asked, tentative.

She looked down at her hands and shook her head; he knew that tears were gathering in the corners of her eyes and more than anything, he wanted to fix whatever was wrong, whatever it was that was making her cry.

He stood and started toward her.

"I don't want this." She said. Her voice was thick with tears. "I don't."

Vincent froze in his tracks. "What?" He had no idea what she was talking about.

"I don't want...Oh, lord, nevermind." Yuffie looked up and he saw that he was right; she was crying. He felt somehow responsible and it pained him to know that. He frowned; he was, once again, not wearing the gear that Shera had made him, so long ago. He was worried, and Yuffie could see that. But at the same time, he was confused, because he did not know how to make everything better.

She smiled at him, a watery little smile with very little substance. "Don't worry about me, Vince. I'll be fine, eventually. Just gotta work through...stuff. That's all."

Vincent did not believe her, and that was evident because he had not left yet. He raised his eyebrow at her in disbelief.

She smiled sadly and looked back down toward her hands. "Okay, Vince. I might not be okay, but I promise I won't go running, and I won't do anything too self-destructive. I just..." She sighed and did not continue.

Vincent kneeled next to her; it was not a normal position for him, but he was very concerned for his friend and decided to brave the discomfort.

"Yuffie, both Cloud and I noticed something was wrong with you, and we are both worried. He is gone, and so the job has fallen to me to find out what is ailing you. I..." He stopped. What exactly was he trying to say?

"I wish that the Yuffie who first showed up at the manor was still here." He said. He hadn't intended to say that, but it slipped out.

She smiled. "She's still here, Vince. She's just wallowing in self-pity. I'm being an emo twat, don't worry about it."

"Isn't that what you threatened me for, not too terribly long ago?" He asked, smiling. She laughed.

"Yeah, I know. I'm a hypocrite." She smiled. "Thanks, Vince. You wouldn't think you'd be good at cheering people up, but you are."

They stayed there for a few minutes before he spoke again.

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong?"

She sighed. "In really general terms, Vincent, I think...I think after all of these years I've found out what love feels like." She looked away. "But, you know, it's really too late for that sort of thing. I thought I'd accepted, a really long time ago, that I'd never, you know...feel that way. And if I did, they wouldn't be interested. But it hurts, it really does."

Vincent looked stunned. "...Is it Cloud?"

She laughed. "Oh, God, no. Ew." She giggled. "Don't worry about it, Vince. I'll get over it. I always do." She looked out her window. "Just...I don't want it. It confuses me, and it makes me feel...weak, to know that I can be so stupid, to be so depressed...over a single person. It's ridiculous. I'm not supposed to be like this. You know?"

Vincent frowned and stood. "I hope you know, Yuffie, that any man who would willingly turn you down is a fool." He left her room.

She smiled at the door he'd gone through. "Oh, Vince." She sighed. "I wish that were true." She stood and closed the door, and remained there for a few minutes, her hand resting on the wood panel. "But it was worth it, I guess, to hear you call yourself a fool."

_Author's Notes: This has nothing to do with this chapter, but did anyone realize that they make pear-flavored salt water taffy? It may not have been intended to be pear-flavored, but it tastes JUST like Bartlett pears. Mmmm! I heart salt water taffy._

_Read? Review!_


	10. Right kinda wrong

**Neverending Heroes**

_**Chapter Ten – Right kinda wrong**_

_I know all about, about your reputation  
And now it's bound to be a heartbreak situation  
But I can't help it if I'm helpless every time that I'm with you_

_You walk in and my strength walks out the door  
Say my name, and I can't fight it any more  
Oh, I know I should go  
But I need your touch just too damn much_

_Lovin' you  
Isn't really somethin' I should do  
Shouldn't wanna spend my time with you  
Oh, I should try to be strong  
But baby, you're the right kind of wrong_

-- Leann Rimes,_The Right Kind of Wrong_

To say that things changed would be a lie. Vincent and Yuffie did not return to their easy friendship. Vincent was still confused as to why, and he brought it up often, but he was rebuffed by the younger woman.

He wished fervently for Cloud to come home. It had been two weeks and it felt like a lifetime. When Cloud was there, things were easier. Cloud would know how to deal with a depressed Yuffie.

Vincent found himself wishing he knew who he could punish for her current state. He wondered if it was that Mike person. Or perhaps the young Rufus, who she'd met those months previous.

In the deepest part of his heart, he was jealous. It was a roaring beast, one he wished would die off. He had no right to be jealous of whomever had Yuffie's attentions, and every time he thought about it he stayed away from her for several days. Not that it was any different, except that he was actively avoiding her; they still had very little contact, considering they lived together.

Meanwhile, Vincent still practiced meditation. He bought several books on the subject and it brought him a much-needed inner peace when he thought about Yuffie. In other parts of the house, Yuffie practiced the guitar. She often left to train on the gun, as well, having enlisted the aid of an experienced ex-WRO sharpshooter when Vincent refused.

Cloud had said that he would be back after a month at most. Vincent figured it could be up to a year before the man returned, knowing his nomadic ways.

He brought that up to Yuffie one night, when they happened to have chosen the same time to eat.

She smiled, sadly. "I figured as much." She said. "I promised, Vince, that I wouldn't run off. I'll try my hardest to keep that promise. It's gonna be hard."

He nodded acceptance of that. They continued their meal as they always did, without talking.

**- - - - - **

Cloud gunned the bike down the road. He knew it had been a month since he left; for once, however, his leaving had nothing to do with being selfish.

He popped into Nibelheim sometimes, to check up on them. But he had not returned, and would not until Vincent and Yuffie started acting normally around each other. His presence had simply enabled the silence, and he had removed himself.

He'd rented a small apartment from one of Cid's sons in Rocket Town. It was just close enough that he could check up on his friends, and far away enough that they wouldn't seek him out, even if they knew where he was. He'd kept his PHS shut off.

He knew there was something wrong with them. He'd pinpointed it that night Yuffie had beaten the shit out of the boxing dummy. And the sad thing was, he blamed himself.

He knew that Yuffie had fallen in love with Vincent. He could see it, as only someone who had once been in love could. Considering the feelings Vincent had had for Lucrecia, Cloud wondered why Vincent had not clued in yet. Could it be, that Vincent's feelings for Lucrecia had only been an obsession? The concept did not surprise him, not at all.

The thing was, Cloud was certain that the older man felt something for Yuffie, as well, and was simply too old and stubborn to admit it aloud. Cloud knew, without a doubt, that if he had not interrupted their drunken tryst so many months before, that maybe things would have been different. It was his fault, to an extent.

Not that the night would not have had it's consequences, but Cloud was sure that things would have turned out differently if they'd been allowed to finish what they'd started. He felt bad about it.

So he'd removed himself so that they would be forced to talk to each other. He knew, from one of his visits, that Yuffie had told Vincent she was in love "with somebody," and that Vincent did not know who. Cloud had the urge to hit him upside the head. Instead, he drove back to Rocket Town with a heavy heart.

Once he reached the confines of his rented room, he sent a thought out to Tifa's spirit, wherever it was. He asked her to help them find each other, as he and Tifa had so long ago.

"Vincent and Yuffie deserve that kind of happiness, Teef." He murmured. "I may not have had you for as long as I wanted, but God. I had you, and those years were wonderful. If they could have that...I'd be happy. Really happy." He smiled. "Maybe, just maybe, happy enough to let your memory go."

**- - - - - **

It was raining.

That in itself was not odd. What was odd was the amount of rain that was coming down. Yuffie stared up at the angry sky from the living room window, astounded. It was as if the world were sobbing.

Not only that, but the rain had set upon the city a chill that permeated even the best-insulated homes and shops. Yuffie cranked up the heater and sat on the couch, bundled up in the comforter from her bed. In front of her was a mug of hot cocoa.

The TV showed that the weather was inclement throughout most of the world. In Costa del Sol, they'd boarded up windows and evacuated, because it seemed a hurricane was coming. At Icicle Inn, people were snowed into their homes. Even old Midgar had received rain.

Yuffie shivered as they came to the Wutaian forecast. Wutai was not exempt from the strange weather. The city itself had received snow; the majority of the island had flooded. She thanked Leviathan that the town was well able to deal with things like being snowed in; unbeknownst to the majority of the world, Wutai had an extensive network of underground passages. Her grandson had confirmed that the building practice was still in use when she'd met him. Every home and building had an underground exit which led to well-maintained underground streets. One could always leave their house in Wutai, no matter what the weather. The practice itself had been born of necessity, a long time before Yuffie had been brought into the world. A nation of ninja had to make sure they always had an escape route. Wutai was still the home of the ninja, but the discipline wasn't as widespread as it had been in her youth. Now, Wutai was known for electronics manufacture and certain agricultural exports. But the underground passages, which had been so useful during snowstorms and sieges in the past, had been maintained and the tradition of building links to it had continued. Yuffie was confident that no one was panicking in her long-abandoned hometown.

"Not going to the gun range tonight?" Vincent asked as he walked into the living room.

Yuffie shook her head and stifled the angry fluttering of her heart at the sight of him. "No way. Not the way it's raining outside."

Vincent frowned and glanced outside. His eyes widened considerably when he saw how much water was pouring out of the skies.

"Quite a bit more than I was expecting." He said. He sat opposite her on the couch and took in the news reports.

When the power went out, neither of them was surprised. They sat in the dark for a few moments before Yuffie sighed.

"It's going to be cold tonight." She said. She stood and navigated to the garage. Neither of them made any effort to light the rooms; their Jenova and mako-enhanced eyes let them see in almost complete dark.

Together they dug around until Yuffie exclaimed, happily. She'd found the propane heater Cloud had used while fixing Fenrir. It was the only one but it would provide them with warmth.

Vincent told Yuffie to set it up in her room. "I can survive without warmth for quite some time." He said. "If you would, however, be so kind as to put up with Yuuta for the evening..."

"Oh, can it, Vince." Yuffie rolled her eyes. "You can sleep on my futon, but you're staying with the heater. Okay?" Her heart ached at the thought of trying to sleep so near him.

Luckily for the both of them, the top of the propane heater was also a stove; like all cooking surfaces nowadays, theirs was electric, and the food dispenser and microwave oven both required power to operate. Vincent set about making a decent meal for them in the kitchen while Yuffie set the table by feel. Finally she lit a single tea candle in the center of the table once it became too dark even for her to see.

Vincent had thought ahead in regards to his kitten, as well, and fed him from the canned cat food he'd purchased – just in case.

They ate silently, and Vincent persuaded Yuffie to put off washing the dishes until they had better lighting the next morning. Then they returned to the argument of his sleeping place.

"Yuffie, it would not be appropriate." He reiterated, for what felt like the tenth time.

Yuffie let out an exasperated sigh. "Vince, appropriate doesn't even begin to enter into this. You've seen me naked, for Leviathan's sake. You just need a warm place to sleep. I've got a futon. Give in, just once."

Finally, he relented. The propane heater did not exactly keep the room toasty, but it was at least warm enough for habitation. The cat mewled piteously until he found his relocated food and water dishes, and his litter box. Then he wandered the room occasionally, switching between cuddling Yuffie on her bed and Vincent on the futon.

Both of them were reading books by candlelight. Vincent found that he enjoyed the simple quiet and nearness to Yuffie. It confused and disturbed him.

Then again, it was upsetting to be so near her when she was still obviously depressed. After a while of silence he brought it up.

"Has there been any improvement in your...situation?" He said, quietly. His face was still trained on his book.

Yuffie set her paperback down and looked toward him, smiling. "No, not really. I haven't talked to him about it. I don't expect that it'll improve any time soon, Vince. But thanks for caring."

She saw his mouth tighten. While he digested her words she took the moment to watch him. She didn't get that opportunity often anymore and once again found herself startled by exactly how good-looking he was. A vague sort of lust shot through her and she looked at her hands in dismay.

"Whoever he is, he is an idiot for causing you this much grief." Vincent said. Her head shot up and her mouth quirked slightly. "And for turning down a beautiful woman."

Yuffie flushed and turned away. "Well, thanks, Vincent." She remembered the space station, when he'd shown her how he saw her. She was not that beautiful; she figured that Vincent, being Vincent, simply saw his friends as more than they were, just as he had with Lucrecia all those years ago. "But he didn't exactly have a chance to turn me down. You know, since I haven't told him..."

She looked at him and saw that he was staring at her in his equivalent of stunned amazement. "You haven't told him?"

She shook her head. "Nope. He's totally in the dark, which is all for the best in the long run."

"Yuffie, I hardly think that you're going to solve your problem by pretending it doesn't exist." Vincent said. He set his book down. "I think you ought to tell whoever he is. You might...get a pleasant surprise." He made a grimace and turned away from her. He wanted her to be happy but the idea of her being with someone bothered him.

It was at that point that he realized exactly why he was so jealous of Yuffie's mystery man, and why he did not like the idea of her pairing with him. It was because he had fallen for her.

The feeling was so foreign to him, so different from his feelings from Lucrecia, that he hadn't recognized it for what it was. He was in love, and with Yuffie Kisaragi.

He made a noise that sounded disagreeable in his ears.

"You okay, Vincent?" Yuffie asked. He looked back at her; her head was cocked to the side and she looked concerned.

"I'm fine." He said, shortly. No, he wasn't fine, not really, but he was not going to tell her why.

Yuffie yawned slightly and glanced at her watch. "It's not really that late, but I'm kinda sleepy." She said, stretching. Vincent watched the process in amazement. She blew out the candle on her nightstand and set the book next to it. "Wake me if the power comes back on, Vince. I wanna know what's going on in the rest of the world."

For the next few hours, Vincent simply watched her. At some point it stopped raining and the moon came out, highlighting her face. He filled his eyes with the sight of her and then closed them, laying back on the futon and hoping that he could learn to ignore these feelings, like he had with Lucrecia.

**- - - - - **

At about two in the morning the power came back on. The only reason they knew is because they hadn't gone through the house and turned off the lights, and both of them were very rudely awakened by the very suddenly bright overhead light.

"Ow!" Yuffie exclaimed, sitting up and covering her eyes. Vincent made a rude noise and tried to roll over and cover his head with pillows that he did not have.

Yuffie squinted and hopped out of bed, hobbling over to the light switch on the wall. She flicked it off and sighed in relief.

Then she realized she could hear noises throughout the house that meant that other powered items had come on. She groaned, realizing she would have to go through the house and turn off the various lights and appliances.

She did, grimacing at the overbright state of the house. When she'd turned off the light in the kitchen, which was the last one, she stretched and got herself a snack from the food dispenser, which had thankfully not reset itself.

It was at this point that she realized she was in her underwear, having kicked off the pajama bottoms during the night. That in itself did not bother her, because she often wandered the house in short shorts not much bigger than the panties. However, the fact that Vincent was in her room, half-naked, and she was about to go back in there...that_did_bother her.

She had a sudden flashback to the night at the jacuzzi. She could remember the feeling of him, sliding in her. It was enough to arouse her and make the concept of going back into the room uncomfortable.

She gritted her teeth and walked back to the room.

Vincent was sitting up on the futon, blearily, when she walked in. "Is the power back on or did I hallucinate that?" He mumbled.

She smiled. "It's back on, I just went and turned everything off. Go back to bed, Vince." She felt a throbbing in her neither regions and ignored it as she climbed into bed.

Vincent stood, mumbling something about the bathroom; had he been thinking properly he'd have just used hers. She turned and watched him leave, and then sighed.

Her hands, unbidden, snaked under the blanket, and stopped at the line of her panties. She let them linger there for a few moments before she stroked the warmth, shuddering at the pleasing sensation that coursed through her. Her fingers dipped into the crease at the juncture of her legs, and she hissed slightly.

The door creaked and she snapped to attention as Vincent stumbled back into the room, sleepily. She knew he was still half-asleep because he would have normally gone back to his own room, now that the electricity was back on. She'd turned the propane heater off because the heating was working now.

After a few minutes a light snoring was issuing from him and she turned away, blushing. She was still horny as hell and she knew she'd never be able to sleep without dealing with it.

She let her hands travel back down toward her heat, slipping her panties off entirely and stroking herself. Her mind traveled back to that night, with Vincent, and she was soon shuddering as the orgasm took her. She let out a small cry.

There was noise as Vincent sat up suddenly, completely alert. "Yuffie? Are you alright?"

She choked, embarrassed. "I'm fine." She squeaked. "Just had a bad dream."

"Okay." He did not sound like he believed her, but lay back down. She shivered.

It was suddenly unbearably hot in the room and she slipped her tank top off and delighted in being completely naked within her blankets. That, along with the drowsiness that accompanied her orgasm, let her drift to a peaceful sleep.

**- - - - - **

When Vincent awoke late the next morning, he blinked at his unfamiliar surroundings before sitting up. Yuffie, still asleep, lay on her bed.

Vincent's eyes widened and he looked away; she'd slipped out of her clothing during the night and was laying naked upon her blankets. He could not deny the effect this had on him and bit his lip, urging the erection away.

Yuffie shifted in her sleep and mumbled. Vincent's face flushed; the sounds she was making were unbelievably erotic and it made it doubly harder to try and banish the sudden arousal he felt. She was obviously having a dream, probably involving her mysterious man.

That was enough to calm him down. He cooled considerably at the thought of her entangled with whoever it was she loved, even in the dream-world. His eyes narrowed and he stood, starting to move quietly toward her door.

"Mmmm." Yuffie murmured. She clutched her pillow to her chest. "Vincent..."

Vincent froze in his tracks and turned toward the ninja. She was wiggling and groaning in her sleep, and had just uttered his name. Not that he had any delusions about that; he'd had erotic dreams about people he hated. Still, knowing that she was dreaming about him made his problem come back, tenfold.

He escaped to his bathroom, where he was able to take care of it in private.

**- - - - - **

It had resumed raining by the time both of them were up for breakfast. The day was turning out to be a bleak one.

At some point Vincent suggested, half-heartedly, that they go to the store and stock up on supplies. To his surprise, Yuffie jumped at the chance. Later, when he reflected on it, it made sense – the TV stations had been knocked off for an hour and Yuffie was thoroughly bored with practicing the guitar and working out.

They braved the rain and made the trek to the grocery store. It seemed that the majority of Nibelheim had the same plan as they; the clerks were hard put upon to properly stock the shelves.

Two hours later, after much frustrated waiting and a line longer than the one to get into the Gold Saucer, the two of them left with a cart full of supplies. These included a lot of dried and powdered food, bottled and canned drinks, a few cases of bottled water, and medical supplies. Yuffie swore that when the storm had passed she was getting a membership to the local bulk store. "That way I can keep these supplies on hand. Then we don't have to fight with people over a gallon of milk." She glanced down disgustedly, at the very thing she'd almost gone to blows with a middle-aged woman over. The majority of the groceries were in plastic bags, tied to keep the water out.

When they got back to the house Yuffie set herself ordering what she termed "an assload" of food from the dispenser – a lot of the meals, ready to eat that many people ordered for camping trips, and several other assorted things, including dry cat food that she bagged in ziplocs.

Only when the house was properly stocked and they had bought several canisters of propane for the heater (the store was out of heaters, else they'd have bought another) was she settled. Something about being prepared in the face of disaster made her calm.

However, another disaster struck shortly after they'd finished putting their supplies away. Yuffie walked into her room, which she normally kept closed, to find that the cat, in their absence, had defecated and urinated all over her futon mattress, as well as torn up bits of it with his claws. She howled in rage, scaring the cat into Vincent's room.

Vincent promised to replace the futon and train the cat better; he couldn't do much else in the situation. So they threw the whole thing out and Vincent avoided Yuffie for the rest of the day.

That night the electricity did not go out. Vincent found himself thanking whatever deity may be out there for such providence; he did not think he could tolerate a night in Yuffie's room with her so angry at his cat.

The next morning she was still grumpy, even more when the power went out halfway through breakfast. The sky was so dark that it was almost like night in the town. Vincent could barely make out her baleful glare, as if this was all somehow his fault.

On the radio Vincent discovered that the power was out more or less permanently; the lines had been severed by floating debris and citizens were urged to stay in their homes and try to keep warm by whatever means necessary. Once the storm had passed, the electric company would make repairs.

It was just above freezing, the only thing that kept the torrential downpour from turning into snow. Yuffie and Vincent made the conscious decision to move into her room, bringing a small stockpile of food and the heater. The cat was banished to Yuffie's bathroom, with his food, water and cat box.

Vincent insisted on staying on the floor, using blankets. Yuffie protested, especially when he began shivering at the cool hardwood.

"Come on, Vince. It's a king sized bed. I'm sure we can stay far apart enough to keep from doing anything stupid." Yuffie rolled her eyes, although she privately wondered if she could keep her hands off of him.

"No." Vincent's logic was infallible, because it consisted mostly of one-word answers. Yuffie let out a frustrated sigh and crossed her arms.

"I'm not going to have you freezing to death because of your outdated sense of chivalry, Vince! This is sort of an emergency situation, here. You're cold. You have separate blankets. I have a huge bed. Come on."

He shook his head and hunched closer to the heater.

"Vince, you either get your ass up here or I'm coming down there with you." She stood, her pajama pants and long T-shirt unruffling softly, and started gathering bedding.

"No!" Vincent exclaimed. "Yuffie..."

Yuffie whirled on him. "Vincent Valentine, either you are going to sleep in a nice warm bed or you are going to have a nice, warm body to help keep you warm. Either or, I'm not letting one of my only friends freeze to death because he's an idiot. Okay?"

He glared at her. She did not protest, however, because he was sitting up and gathering his bedding up while he did it.

Only when they were both safely ensconced on the bed, surrounded by plenty of warm pillows and blankets, did Yuffie feel more at ease. They had both of their blankets and their spares, plus the two blankets Cloud used; Yuffie had also brought all of Cloud and Vincent's pillows in. The cumulative effect was that it felt like the two of them were bundled into a large, warm, slightly ridiculous cloud.

However, the pillows, which Yuffie had bordering the bed to keep out drafts, pushed them rather close together. Yuffie found herself inching toward the warmth that Vincent was; Vincent was struggling to get to sleep and did not notice. Eventually, their backsides met in the middle.

It would have made things tense except that the cat chose that moment to let out a plaintive meowl from the bathroom. Vincent sighed and glanced toward her.

"Alright, fine." Yuffie said, crossly. "Let him out, but if he pisses on anything..."

Vincent nodded and stood, shivering as his bare feet made contact with the hardwood floor. The heater did not do nearly enough to warm them.

The cat was so excited to be let out of his tile prison that he jumped onto the bed and licked Yuffie's nose. She screeched and ducked under the blankets, and the cat was so upset at her disappearance that he wiggled under there with her.

Yuffie found herself face-to-face with a black and white little monster, who insisted on cuddling up to her as penance for his intrusion. However, he was cold and uncomfortable.

Vincent climbing back in next to her made it worth it. He didn't even bother with trying to stay on his side of the bed, simply climbing in and allowing his back to settle against hers again. Yuuta let out an excited meow and struggled across Yuffie to his master. Yuffie laughed.

Vincent chuckled as well and allowed his pet, cold as ever, to curl up next to him. Yuffie turned and saw the sight; Vincent Valentine, gunslinger extraoridinare, cuddling a small kitten. She smiled and sighed happily; she'd sleep well tonight.

**- - - - - **

If it surprised Vincent to wake up surrounded on both sides, he didn't say anything.

He didn't have much of a chance to, actually. When he woke up, Yuffie had flipped in sleep and wrapped her arms around him. The cat, snoring softly, had very permanently settled himself against his chest on the other side, making him essentially pinned in. Poking his head up, he looked out the window and groaned; the rain had turned to snow, and it was falling thickly from the sky. No end to the precipitation was in sight.

A vague moan came from behind him; Yuffie was waking up and noticing the snow as well.

"Is it never going to freaking _end_?" She asked, half-asleep. Then she wiggled further under the covers, closer to Vincent. "I don't wanna mooooove, it's warm."

"I need to use the restroom." Vincent said, suddenly. That was only half right; he did have to pee, for sure, but Yuffie's closeness was resulting in an alarming physical reaction.

"Awww." Yuffie murmured, half asleep again. "But you're warm." She rested her cheek against his shoulder blade and sighed happily.

"Meh." The cat said. He'd woken up and was staring at Vincent, refusing to move. It was a contest of wills, which Vincent reluctantly let the cat win after a half hour of staring. He could have simply picked up the cat, but he had to admit that the idea of getting up to use the restroom was not a pleasant one.

Yuffie had drifted back off to sleep. He only knew this because her hands, still in front of him, were clenching spasmodically, which she seemed to do while sleeping.

"Vinnie..." She muttered. He froze. She was dreaming of him again? She sounded so happy. His heart sped up a bit, and he shifted, which woke her up.

"Mmmm. Hey, Vince." Yuffie said, softly. Her arms retracted back to herself. "Sorry."

As she moved her hands back to her person, they trailed along his bare sides. He shuddered.

"Whoops." Yuffie said, chuckling. "Sorry, Vince, didn't know you were ticklish."

"I'm not." He said. Then he began working on coaxing the cat to stand. Yuuta stoutly refused.

Yuffie yawned mightily and then sat up. She tried flicking her bedside lamp on, just in case. It refused to turn on.

She sighed. "Damn." Then she shivered. "Wow, it's freezing up in here." She edged closer to Vincent, who was propped up on his elbow, trying to get the cat to move.

Yuffie reached over him and picked up Yuuta, who yowled at the injustice of it all. Vincent shot her a grateful look and dashed toward the bathroom; his erection had gone away, but he still very much had to pee.

When he came back into the room, Yuffie was sitting up, but she was bundled in all of the blankets. The cat was angrily giving himself a bath at the foot of the bed.

Only Yuffie's face was visible. "I'm not getting out of this bed." She said, stoutly. "You can't make me."

Vincent hid his smile by leaning over to check the level on the propane heater. It was still half full.

Then he offered to make breakfast. "Since you will not come out of bed, I suppose I'll have to cook for us." He said. Yuffie squealed in happiness at the concept of a Vincent breakfast.

He ventured into the kitchen to obtain cooking implements – Yuffie had not brought any when she was packing up some food the night before – and some fresher ingredients. It was freezing; his breath fogged and the refrigerator contents was actually warmer than the temperature of the house. Vincent was happy that the eggs had not frozen yet; he grabbed the half-gallon of milk, pancake mix, and eggs, some plates and some bowls, and the cast-iron griddle from under the sink. A few more implements and he was on his way back to the room, shivering.

The room may not have seemed warm before, but now that he'd been to the parts of the house that had no heating, it seemed downright tropical.

"Cold?" Yuffie asked.

He hadn't shivered or made any comments, so he raised his eyebrow at her. She pointed at his bare chest, where his nipples were sticking out. He frowned at her and she giggled.

Vincent dragged one of the night stands toward him, where he set the items he'd taken from the kitchen. Then he set the griddle on top of the propane heater and put some butter on it.

While it heated up he mixed up pancakes and scrambled eggs. Yuffie watched intently.

The griddle was not quite ready, so he went back out into the house, remembering a few items he'd forgotten, and came back visibly shivering. One of the things he'd brought was the battery-powered radio; wordlessly, he handed it to Yuffie, who flipped it on and listened to the news.

The snow was expected to last another few days. Yuffie groaned and then squealed in excitement; this last bit was because Vincent had finished breakfast while the news was droning on, and had presented her with a stand-up breakfast tray with a plate of eggs, bacon and pancakes on it. Then he handed her a cup of orange juice and a cup of milk. Shortly after he settled himself on the opposite side of the bed with the same setup, and the containers of ketchup and syrup.

"Mmmm!" Yuffie said, closing her eyes as she chewed a piece of egg. "So...freaking...delicious."

Vincent smiled as they ate, knowing that Yuffie enjoyed his cooking. It was a talent he'd learned a long time ago, and rarely had the opportunity to use.

When she finished, she turned to him. "I am dead serious that I'm not getting out of this bed. Not unless I have to pee."

Vincent smirked and got out of the bed. He gathered their used dishes and washed them in her bathtub, setting them near the food cache. Then he gave Yuffie a can of soda at her request, and fed the cat.

Grabbing a bottle of water, he shifted the nightstand back to his side of the bed, and they both sat in the bed, warm and somewhat content. Vincent yawned and Yuffie laughed.

"Snake syndrome!" She giggled. She lay down and snuggled her pillow. Vincent looked at her and raised his eyebrow. "You know, when you eat a lot and get sleepy?" She yawned herself, and sighed, bringing some blankets up toward her face.

Vincent laid down and stared upward, toward the ceiling. Yuffie's arms encircled him again and he closed his eyes, letting sleep overcome him.

**- - - - - **

Later that day, after their mid-morning nap, they were both still in bed; however, they were propped up against the headboard, reading. Vincent had put a shirt on, but otherwise they looked the same as they had when they'd woken up. Yuffie pointed out that it wasn't often that one had the chance to spend the day in bed, and Vincent had agreed, and made a foray into the game room to obtain books for the both of them.

Vincent was not really reading. He was making a concerted effort, but was distracted by the fact that Yuffie and he seemed to be squishing closer and closer. The bed was large, but they were slowly drifting toward the center. The cat, sitting at the end of the bed, sleeping, was oblivious to this fact.

After several hours, during which Vincent changed the battery to the radio once, their shoulders met at almost the dead center of the headboard. Vincent shivered slightly at her touch, but didn't say anything.

Yuffie interrupted the silence.

"Do you really think I ought to tell him?" Her voice was quiet, and she didn't look up at Vincent when she said it.

Vincent battled himself; if ever there was a time to dissuade her from this man, now was it. But he could not, in good conscience, give her bad advice purposely. It did not matter anyway; he had no intention of pursuing Yuffie's affections. Still, the idea of her with some other man disturbed him.

"I do." Vincent said. He put his book down and looked toward her. "Yuffie, at the very least you will know if it is hopeless or not. The not knowing is probably the worst." He frowned. "I wish you trusted me, Yuffie, enough to confide in me who it is."

She laughed. "Vince, it's not that I don't trust you." She stopped and sighed. "Don't worry about it."

"You tell me not to worry, Yuffie, but you are my friend. I can't stop myself from worrying about it." And he was not lying; that same worry was etched across his delicate face, and Yuffie felt a pang of regret for having told him in the first place.

"I know, and I'm sorry, Vince. It's really not that big a deal. I'll get over it in the long run and maybe he and I will laugh about it some day." She smirked; the idea of Vincent outright laughing amused her.

"Or maybe you won't. Maybe you'll tell him that you used to love him and he'll be in love with you and it will have been wasted effort on your part." Vincent insisted. "I think you ought to tell him, Yuffie, if only to stop yourself from wondering what may have happened." He sighed and looked out the window. "I have too many regrets in my life. I don't wish my friends to make the same mistakes."

Vincent realized what a hypocrite he was being; he was urging Yuffie to confess her feelings to the man she loved, but he had no intention of doing the same regarding her. It all boiled down to how he thought of himself; Yuffie deserved happiness. He did not.

Yuffie frowned and set her book on her nightstand. "I'm going to take a nap." She said. Vincent watched her drift off to sleep and sighed.

She was beautiful, and he had no right tainting her with his love. None whatsoever.

_Author's Notes: About the songs I choose - I try to make them vaguely fit the chapters they preface. I listen to a wide variety of music, so it's sometimes rock, sometimes country...sometimes other things. Just depends on the mood I'm in and what the chapter is saying._

_Read? Review! _


	11. I don't really need forever

**Neverending Heroes**

_**Chapter Eleven – I don't really need forever...**_

_betsu ni eien nado  
iranai kara  
konya wa tada tada  
ore no soba ni  
iro yo_

_Selfish love  
aishitekure  
aishiteru kara  
korega ore no  
aishikata_

-- Miyavi,_Selfish Love_

Unknown to Vincent, Yuffie was not asleep. She was very good at feigning sleep, and had been for most of her life. It was a skill learned at her mother's knee, before her death, and later in ninja school.

She heard him sigh softly and turn back to his book, and she let her body relax while she poured over her thoughts on the man sitting next to her.

A sudden, very different thought occurred to her, and she sat up. Vincent looked toward her.

"We forgot about Cloud." She said. She looked over at him, fear written on her face. "What if he's out in this?"

Vincent's face turned to one of sorrow. "I certainly hope not." He said, softly.

**- - - - - **

In all actuality, he was. But he was close.

Cloud had been coming back to Nibelheim when the rain struck. He'd set up camp that night on a large boulder, weighing his tent down with his possessions. When he awoke, the water was nearly a foot deep and reaching the base of the rock.

He got stranded in the old mako reactor when the snow began. At first he thought he might be able to stick it out, but as the storm worsened, he knew that he had only one chance: to make it to Nibelheim.

As Yuffie and Vincent were discussing his fate, he was stumbling into town, which looked rather deserted in its current state. Over a foot of snow was piling up, on top of already-frozen rain. He kept his eyes on the prize; their house.

So it happened that shortly after Yuffie began worrying about him, he opened the door to the garage, which was freezing cold but still much, much warmer than the outside world. He parked Fenrir and began searching for Yuffie and Vincent.

Finding them in Yuffie's room was not what he expected.

"Cloud!" Yuffie jumped up and ran at him. She threw her arms around him, snow and all. "I was worried about you!"

His jaw dropped when he realized that Vincent and Yuffie had been in bed together.

"It's not what it looks like." Yuffie said, eyes wide. "You may have noticed that it's FREEZING out there. We're hibernating in here, with the propane heater, until the storm passes." Her face darkened. "The cat ruined my futon."

"Yuffie." Vincent said, standing up. "Perhaps you could run Cloud a shower? He looks frostbitten."

"Oh, duh!" Yuffie grinned and dashed toward her bathroom. Vincent looked at Cloud, welcomingly. Well, as welcomingly as Vincent ever looked.

Cloud raised his eyebrow. Vincent shrugged and offered to go get him some clothes from his room.

"That would be very welcome, actually." Cloud said, shivering. "I have a roll-out futon under my bed, too. Let me come help..."

"No, stand by the heater and get warm." Vincent said. "I will return shortly." He disappeared out the door.

Yuffie walked in from her bathroom and smiled at Cloud. "Did Vince go to get you some dry clothes? Jeez, you must be freezing." She shivered in sympathy for him.

Cloud looked at her with a piercing gaze. He turned toward the door, listening for Vincent's return. He heard nothing and turned back to the shinobi. "Yuffie, have you told him how you feel about him?"

Yuffie froze. "What the hell are you talking about, Strife?"

Cloud rolled his eyes. "Look, even_ I _can tell, okay? Eventually_ he'll_ figure it out."

She shook her head, looking downward. "I don't want to tell him. It'll just wind up going south anyway. I'd rather have him as a friend than a failed love attempt. He doesn't like me anyway, I'm just a friend..."

Cloud sighed and put his hand to his forehead. "Look, Yuffie, trust me when I say that Vincent would probably want you to tell him, regardless of how he feels. He doesn't deal with conflicting responses well. You've seen that. Besides..." He glanced back toward the door. "I think he loves you. In his own way." He returned his gaze to Yuffie. "I left so you guys would be forced to start talking to each other again. It looks like it didn't work."

Yuffie's head was bowed. "I'm sorry, Cloud. I...I can't tell him. He knows I love someone, and he keeps telling me I should tell whoever it is, and every time I think maybe I could, I freeze up. I can't take that sort of rejection."

"How can you be sure it'll be rejection? Jeez." Cloud sighed and walked toward the bathroom. "If you expect failure that's what you're going to get." He yawned mightily. "If you guys could set up my futon while I'm showering I'd appreciate it. I'm exhausted." The sudden change of subject almost floored Yuffie, until she heard Vincent padding back down the hall.

When Cloud came back out from the shower – in clean night clothing that Vincent had fetched from his room for him – the futon was indeed set up next to the heater. Yuffie was gone, having decided to brave the rest of the house to run to the game room for something. Vincent sat at the edge of the bed.

"Thanks." Cloud said, rubbing his hair dry. "I really needed that."

Vincent nodded. "I am glad you are safe, Cloud."

The blond smiled wryly. "I almost wasn't. But oh well, I made it. I'll be fine." He sat on the low futon and sighed at the heat the propane contraption was sending out. "Did you find out what was wrong with Yuffie?"

Vincent frowned. "She is in love." He said, the words feeling sour as they left his mouth.

Cloud chuckled. "Who is it?" He liked being one up on Vincent, for once.

"I don't know. She won't tell me." Vincent's obvious frustration with the fact was written on his face. "She refuses to tell whoever it is. She refuses to _try_."

Cloud smirked and turned back to the heater. "You don't seem happy with the situation."

Vincent froze and swallowed hard before continuing. "Of course not. She is my friend, and she is unhappy. If I could find whoever it was and beat some sense into him, I would."

Cloud tried hard not to laugh. "So you feel very strongly about it?" He asked, hiding his smirk with a feigned yawn, which he covered with his hand.

"Of course I do. She's our friend, Cloud. The last of our group. She deserves some happiness in life."

Cloud looked up at Vincent. "And you don't deserve any? Or I?"

"I..." Vincent stopped. He didn't know where Cloud was heading, but he was pretty sure he didn't like it.

"Personally, I had my happiness already. I'm content. But you, Vince, you've had nothing out of life. Why do you insist Yuffie should be happy, and not take the effort to make yourself happy as well?" Cloud looked at Vincent, sternly. "I know you forgave yourself for all of that bullshit a long time ago, so what gives?"

Vincent glared at him and then looked away, toward the window.

"Whatever, Vincent. Yuffie told me what you tell her to do – to tell him and take a chance. I say, you're a hypocrite, and you should follow your own damn advice." Cloud rolled over onto the futon and was fast asleep within minutes.

Yuffie walked in shortly after that, with a new book under her arm and a cooking pot in her hand – Vincent had not brought any with him and she had a hankering for some of the canned soup they'd bought. She glanced down at Cloud, a small smile on her face.

"Out cold, eh? He needs food, though. Maybe we should wake him..."

"Wake him when the food is ready." Vincent said. He dug through their food stores until he found a smallish loaf of bread and set it to warm on the rack portion of the heater, while Yuffie opened the can of soup and tipped it into the pot. She added some water and seasonings and waited for it to simmer. While it cooked, Vincent and Yuffie both thought about what Cloud had said to them.

When they woke him a few minutes later, it was with a bowl of soup and a warm hunk of bread. He smiled at the bounty and the three of them ate in silence.

Then they listened to the radio for a few minutes; more of the same, that the storm was expected to last several days. The hurricane had already dissipated over Costa del Sol, with few losses, and Wutai's snow had pushed toward Nibelheim. Then there was breaking news that the weather control prototype from the fake continent out east had caused the events; it had malfunctioned. Yuffie's mouth formed an O.

"Oh man. I bet Kiyoshi is devastated." She said, shaking her head. "People are going to bitch now."

"One freak accident is not reason to protest useful technology." Vincent pointed out. "It seems that not much damage was done in the grand scheme of things. Hopefully people will be able to put it behind them."

"I hope so." Yuffie said. She sighed. "One thing's for sure, we're getting more heaters when this clears up."

**- - - - - **

For two days the three of them, and the cat, camped out in Yuffie's room. Cloud had the futon; Vincent had to be persuaded every night to join Yuffie in her warm bed. Every night, Cloud would lay on his futon and listen to them argue about it and chuckle to himself.

Midway through the third day the storm broke. Just in time, for they were almost out of regular food and had started breaking into the Meals, Ready to Eat that Yuffie had ordered from the food dispenser. The MRE's were not tasty and in fact caused some gastrointestinal distress among them.

Finally, the power came back on, and Yuffie let out a whoop of joy. "Electricity!" She said, excited. She ran into the house and turned the thermostat up to a ridiculous heat.

The cat was excited because he could leave the room, and because he got some nice wet food from the dispenser, care of his second-favorite person on the planet, Yuffie.

Yuffie was excited because she would have her room to herself now. While the house heated up they started breaking camp, so to speak; each man took his blankets and pillows back to their own room, and they began moving the supplies from the days spent there into the rest of the house.

Towards the end of the night she heard noises outside and went and looked; the snow plows were out, clearing the streets. Her face stretched into a grin.

The television stations came on near ten, with stories of the devastation that had been brought upon the world by the malfunctioning weather control unit. Thankfully, there had only been a few deaths and injuries, and for the most part everyone had survived. Property damage was minimal, and the Wutaian government was looking into why the unit had malfunctioned in the first place.

The next day, Yuffie went to the bulk outlet and bought a membership. The store had backup generators and had managed to save the majority of it's stock, so she went shopping. She came back with more heaters and propane canisters, which they stored with the first one in the garage.

The two days in extremely close quarters had eradicated the awkwardness amongst the trio. They got along like they had before. Unfortunately, Yuffie still had that depressed air about her, which brought their general mood down. The two men didn't mention it.

No one was entirely surprised when Cloud left again, this time with no explanation. Yuffie, because she knew Cloud wanted her to tell Vincent that she loved him, and Vincent, because he'd pinned Cloud as a vagabond, the sort who enjoyed traveling.

Cloud was back in Rocket Town, in his rented apartment. He simply chose to remove himself from the situation, yet again.

He swore that this time, he wouldn't come back until they'd admitted their love. Even if it was _another_ eighty years.

**- - - - - **

Yuffie knew that Cloud wouldn't come back this time, not unless she did something. The urge to leave was strong, and she found herself packing one day without realizing what she was doing. Swearing, she unpacked and sat at her desk, her head in her hands.

After a while, she drew out a piece of paper and a pen. She sighed and began writing, knowing this wasn't what Cloud had intended on, but that it would do in the long run. When she was done, she turned and repacked everything she'd just unpacked.

**- - - - - **

Vincent came back from the store to an empty house. He didn't realize it was empty at first; it was only when he went into his room and found the note on his bed that he discovered that he was truly alone.

He picked it up and read it.

_Vincent;_

_I think that when you read this, you'll realize why I could never tell the man that I love that I love him. It was always so awkward between us, and it would have made it worse, in the long run. _

_I'm going to Wutai. It's one of the things on my list; I suppose that while I'm there I might learn how to put kimono together, too. I could be gone for several years. I hope Cloud comes back so that you don't have to be alone._

_I will probably not write. I'm just really bad at that sort of thing. I'm sorry._

_Cloud probably won't be back, now that I think about it. He told me he wouldn't come back until I admitted that I love you. But I think he expected me to tell you face-to-face, not in a Dear John letter. I'm sorry, Vincent – the reason I didn't want to tell you who it was is because it was you. I love you. I can't help it. You're perfect, you always were, and I really hope we can still be friends even if you know._

_I still have my phone, if you and Cloud ever need to get ahold of me. I may not have it on, but if you leave a message, I promise I'll listen to it. If you ever need me for anything, do not hesitate to call. You two are all I have left in this world._

_I love you._

_Yuffie Kisaragi_

**- - - - - **

Cloud was awakened by a ringing noise; glancing to his nightstand, he recognized it as his phone. Swearing, he grabbed at it; it was Vincent's phone number. He knew the gunslinger wouldn't call him unless there were an emergency of some sort, so he flipped it open.

"This better be good, Vincent." He said, roughly, sitting up in his bed.

There was silence for a few beats before Vincent spoke.

"You knew." He said, an accusing tone in his voice.

"I knew what, exactly?" Cloud demanded, shivering as his feet hit the cold floor. He stretched slightly and padded toward his kitchen.

"You know...that Yuffie loved me." He said. There was a strange tone in his voice as he said it, as if he didn't believe it himself.

"Oh, she finally told you?" Cloud yawned. "About time. I kept telling her to do it." He took a carton of orange juice out of the refrigerator and, shrugging, started to drink some right from the carton.

"She left." At this, Cloud spit the orange juice out into the sink.

"What?" He exclaimed.

"She left me a letter. She went to Wutai." Vincent said. "Why didn't you tell me, Cloud?"

"Because it wasn't my secret to tell, Vince." Cloud said, tiredly. He started packing his things into a suitcase. "Look, Vince, I can be there in a few hours. Give me that long before losing it, okay?"

"Fine." Vincent said, tersely. There was a clicking noise as the older man hung up.

Cloud looked into the mirror above his sink and sighed. "Jeez, Yuffie. You sure can fuck things up." He let loose with another sigh and continued emptying his apartment. He'd let Cid's son know that he was done with the place, and then he'd be on his way.

**- - - - - **

Yuffie had not been to Wutai in eighty years; she wasn't sure if she would even remember how to get there. When the boat dropped her off on the island she noticed that a town that had not existed before had sprung up. There, she bought a map.

Wutai had grown. Instead of the one capital, there were several smallish towns and Wutai City, which looked like it was huge. She bit her lip and bought a train ticket.

The trip took two and a half days. The entire time, she sat in her rented compartment (wishing fervently that Vincent and Cloud were with her – a train compartment just didn't seem right without them) and watched the landscape wooshing by. It had changed; Wutai was not so dangerous anymore. Occasionally that would depress her and she would go take a shower in the bathroom compartment, or gorge herself on something in the dining compartment.

Getting off the train in Wutai City was strange, only because it was so big. The train let her off near the pagoda, which was no longer the tallest building in the city – not by a long shot. There were miniature skyscrapers and building blocks all over the place, and dotting the landscape, more traditional Wutaian architecture. A map told her where the leader's offices were.

She thought that finding time with Kiyoshi would be hard; he was, after all, the leader, and he had no idea she was coming. But apparently her grandson made absolutely sure that if any of his citizens ever needed him, he was available. She felt a warm glow, knowing that he had become such a good leader.

He was not expecting to see her, clad in kimono, when his secretary told him someone was here to see him. Kiyoshi's face lit up like a lamp.

He gestured for her to follow him without speaking; it was out of respect, she realized, for her request to keep her existence a secret. She smiled.

Kiyoshi's office was a blend of Wutai and other cultures. A traditional desk sat in the corner, piled high with paperwork and accoutrements. A high office chair sat behind it, and three normal sitting chairs sat in front of it. He did not lead her to the desk; instead, he brought her to a low, Wutaian-style table, where they were served jasmine tea and left alone.

"I cannot tell you how happy I am to see you, Lady Kisaragi." Kiyoshi said in Wutaian. "What do you think of the new Wutai?"

"It has certainly changed." Yuffie replied, in the same language. "Quite an accomplishment."

Kiyoshi smiled at her compliment and asked what brought her to their native land.

"I felt the need to visit the homeland, Kiyoshi. I also wish to learn how to piece together kimono. Does anyone still practice that trade?"

Kiyoshi nodded. "Yes, several people do, right here in Wutai City. It can take a lifetime to learn how to pattern silk properly..."

Yuffie shook her head. "I wish to learn to sew them. I suspect that will not take a lifetime." She laughed.

He smiled at her. "Of course not. Not that you don't have a lifetime to dedicate to the science if you wished." His smile became wry. "Where are you staying?"

"I have not yet chosen a place. I came here first." She sipped her tea.

Kiyoshi sat up straight. "If you wish, you can stay in the old palace, which your father owned. It is empty now, but for the people who care for it."

Yuffie considered the idea. "That would be acceptable, if it is not taboo."

He shook his head. "No, not taboo." He set his cup down. "After you have settled, would it please you to join my wife and I for dinner? She has been hoping to meet you."

Yuffie nodded. "That would be very generous of you, Kiyoshi. I look forward to it."

After they finished their tea, the Wutaian leader led her to the old palace, which was carefully maintained and yet empty. Rather than sleep in her father's old room, she elected to sleep in the guest room, formerly her childhood bedroom.

It was almost as if no time had passed at all. The entire house had been lovingly kept the way Godo had left it so many years ago. Yuffie sat on the low bed, staring around her, knowing the full story behind every decoration. After she set her things aside, she went and fed the koi in the pond, and then walked to Kiyoshi's house, where his wife had an amazing supper prepared for them.

**- - - - - **

Vincent had read, and re-read, the note several times before balling it up and throwing it across the room in a fit of rage. He was not wearing his claw, so several of his fingers broke when he smashed his fist into the hardwood floor. Uncaring, he punched the floor with his other hand. Unbidden tears dripped from his eyes and down his nose, dropping slowly onto the floor and joining with his blood.

That was where Cloud found him, several hours later, still in that same position, blood still pouring from the wounds in his hands, tears still falling from his eyes. He exclaimed in horror over Vincent's state.

He led Vincent, who seemed like he was in a daze, to the kitchen, where Cloud cleaned up his hands and set the fingers before casting cure a few times. The wounds healed up and the fractures mended.

Vincent did not seem to feel any better. Cloud sighed and cleaned up the mess they'd made walking from Vincent's room to the kitchen, and the mess in said room. While cleaning he found Yuffie's letter and read it a few times.

"I don't know why you're acting like this is such a big deal, Vince." Cloud said, dumping the letter in front of the man. "Wutai isn't that far away. Four days travel if you go over the ground, less if you take an airship. We can go visit her any time."

"Have you been to Wutai recently, Cloud?" Vincent said, softly. Cloud shook his head no. "It's enormous. The city is larger than Midgar used to be. It is impossible to find any one person in the city. Besides, Yuffie wished to get away from us; it isn't very polite to go chasing after her."

Cloud was quiet for a while; he didn't reply, instead electing to order something for them to eat from the food dispenser. When he'd plopped a sandwich and a cup of soup in front of Vincent he began talking again.

"A city bigger than Midgar, huh? I'll have to see that." Cloud chewed on his sandwich for a few minutes. "Seriously, Vincent, I haven't been to Wutai since just after Yuffie left. It'd be a nice trip. We don't have to go to find Yuffie; just knowing you're close might make you feel better."

"I'm not concerned with it." Vincent said, looking away. Cloud snorted.

"Vince, I call bullshit. You're obviously head over heels about Yuffie." At this the older man stiffened. "Any idiot can see it; I can't believe Yuffie hasn't seen it."

Vincent bit rather aggressively into his sandwich. His silence was almost ominous.

_Author's Notes: I'm really sorry about how long this was coming, and how short it wound up being, but on the flip side – new chapter! Also, I've taken this break to completely re-read the story from start to finish, and take a lot of notes about where I want this story to go. Obviously, my muse has the final say, but I think I like where it's going, although I'm still not sure if Yuffie and Vincent are actually going to wind up together._

_Also, Yuffie had sushi for dinner with Kiyoshi. And I really want some fucking sushi now. :O_

_Oh! And the song at the top is "Selfish Love" by Miyavi. This is the vague translation:_

_I don't really need forever  
So just be with me tonight_

_Selfish love  
Love me, because I love you  
That is how I love_

_Seriously, this is one of my absolute favorite songs on the PLANET. I mean that in all seriousness. Everyone should go check out the Meevs, and support him if he comes to the U.S. on tour. :D_

_Read? Review!_


	12. Last chance for one last dance

**Neverending Heroes**

_**Chapter Twelve – Last chance for one last dance**_

_I wanted  
I wanted you to stay  
And I need it  
I need to hear you say..._

"_I love you  
I have loved you all along  
And I forgive you  
For bein' away for far too long  
So keep breathin'  
Cuz I'm not leavin' you anymore  
Believe it  
Hold on to me, and never let me go..."_

-- Nickelback,_Far Away_

_**Lemon**_

Yuffie bit her lip as she concentrated on creating a straight, sturdy, but easy to pick apart seam. Closing her eyes and asking Leviathan for the patience to make it through this, she continued down the length of fabric.

It seemed so silly that in this day and age, kimono were still sewn by hand. She swore that if she ever wound up making another one for herself, she'd use a machine. She made a mental note to add that to the white board if she ever went back to Nibelheim: "Learn how to use a sewing machine."

Slowly but surely, that was becoming less of an option. She hadn't heard from Cloud or Vincent in almost six months, ever since she'd left. She hadn't minded the silence for the month she'd spent learning how to weave and dye the silks needed for kimono (it was hard work and she didn't have the time or energy to deal with it), but now, sewing a seam by hand, and steam-straightening lengths of silk fabric...

Well, it was mindless work, and it left her time to think. Unfortunately.

She felt colder and colder every day, despite the fact that it was progressing into summer and getting very warm on the little continent of Wutai. Her heart grew heavier every night that she came home from her teacher's house to a phone with no voice mails, no missed calls, and no text messages.

Despite her earlier protestations otherwise, Kiyoshi had managed to get her involved in Wutaian politics; she was an advisor, although she generally kept silent during meetings. She'd been able to bring unique solutions to the table, even going against her grain and convincing the governments of the world that it was for the best to put birth control into food sources until the Space Colonization Program had been implemented. Under her careful guidance, the artificial continent was completed, the weather bug fixed, and crops had been planted. The grand opening was scheduled for sometime within the next few weeks; just in time for the first harvest. Despite herself, she enjoyed making a difference again, somehow.

However, the silence she held during Kiyoshi's political meetings had drifted into other parts of her life. Shizuko, Kiyoshi's wife, came to her one day worried.

"You are so quiet all of the time, Lady Kisaragi. We worry for your health."

Yuffie smiled. "Nothing time won't heal. And I've got loads of it." Shizuko had nodded sadly and left.

Even her teacher, a woman who was damn close to Yuffie's age, had brought it up. "Girl your age ought to be chattering on about boys or something. Or girls, if that's your thing." She said. When Kiyoshi had arranged for her to study with the crone, he hadn't mentioned Yuffie's advanced age. When she said things like this, Yuffie ground her teeth and smiled sadly.

"You know, I had a friend once who told me that unless you can improve on the silence, you should keep your mouth shut." She winced, remembering that it had been Vincent who said that, during a WRO meeting a very long time ago.

"Your friend was smart." Her teacher said, frowning as if this was out of character for Yuffie.

Yuffie sighed and moved her neck around. Kimono making was fascinating, but tiring. She'd be glad when she could go home.

And not for the first time, she wondered where home was.

**- - - - - **

Cloud was not the type to pry.

This much was true. In his years living with Vincent, he had only interfered once, and even that was only by removing himself from the man's presence.

So when Vincent chose to continue on as if nothing had happened, as if Yuffie had never come into their lives, Cloud was silent.

He was equally quiet when he went out to go check the mail one summer day. They rarely did so; they had remarkably few correspondences, considering they were neverending heroes. Most of their post was junk mail and credit offers; anything important tended to come over the 'Net. The first month or two after Yuffie had left, Vincent had taken to checking the mail daily, but when it became obvious that she was not going to write, he'd stopped entirely. It was left to Cloud to remember to check; he did so every week or two.

Nibelheim being a large city, most people preferred to take out a post office box rather than receive the now-rare post at their homes. This was due to the rather large influx of small-time gangs that liked to destroy personal property like mailboxes, and would-be mail thieves. The two men were no exception, and Cloud walked the two blocks to the post office with his hands in his pockets.

He let his mind drift over the past six months. He had been remarkably unsuccessful at convincing Vincent to travel to Wutai; the man steadfastly refused every reason they could possibly have to go there. Granted, those reasons were few and far between. Instead, Vincent spent his days reading through the massive collection of books Nanaki had sent them shortly after Yuffie left. They were copies of the original records of Cosmo Canyon; only a few sets were produced in hardcopy, and Nanaki rather felt that Vincent and Cloud deserved a set, considering that they figured so largely in some of the tomes.

Cloud spent his days completing the items on his board, a task Vincent seemed intent on ignoring. The blond had learned the fine art of cooking, and when they could come upon raw materials, could whip up a fairly good meal using recipes Tifa had left him, and some intuition. There was a marked rarity, however, in raw cooking materials; slowly but surely the food dispensers were taking the place of the ancient culinary practices.

Nowadays he spent his time learning martial arts, which Tifa had been so good at in her time. He was even learning them from a descendant of her teacher's, Zangan.

Cloud sighed and took the key to their post box out of his pocket. Without realizing it, he'd walked right into the post office and to the box Vincent and he shared on autopilot. With a snick, the key slid into the lock and he turned it, expecting more sales fliers and credit card offers.

And there were plenty of them. He grabbed the mass and sorted through it, stopping by the post office's large mail shredder to toss them one by one as they became filed as "junk" in his mind.

He stopped at the last piece, an actual letter, addressed to Vincent and himself by name. According to it's postmark, it had been sent from Wutai about a week ago.

His eyes widened and he ripped the envelope open. His heart fell as he realized it wasn't from Yuffie, but rather, her grandson.

He pulled the letter out and two heavy plastic cards fell to the floor with a clatter. Stooping to pick them up, he kept his eyes trained on the parchment, reading the words that had been painstakingly painted onto it. Luckily, he'd picked up Wutaian about thirty years ago out of necessity, when he ran into a group of Wutaian gypsies.

He frowned and shoved the letter and cards into his pocket. For the first time in many months, he jogged home from the post office – this time, it wasn't out of boredom, but because he actually had news for Vincent.

**- - - - - **

"Vincent!" The blond's voice echoed through the house. Vincent glanced up; very rarely did Cloud and he even speak nowadays. He wondered if something had come in the mail.

His heart sped up but he exerted the sternest control to keep his face immobile. He watched with interest as the younger man strode through the doorway into the game room.

"Something came in the mail for us." Cloud said, handing him a crumpled envelope and parchment. Vincent saw the Wutai stamp on the envelope and quickly unfolded the letter.

Cloud had assumed that Vincent could read Wutaian; luckily for the both of them, his assumption was correct.

"Why does he think we would want to attend such a function?" Vincent said, frowning slightly as he read the letter. His disappointment was almost palpable.

"No idea. I'm not sure why we even rated an invitation; this is a pretty intense gig." Cloud said, taking the letter from Vincent when he let it drop from his gaze, and instead passing over the plastic cards – identification cards, to allow one admittance into the event. "I mean, the introduction of the false continent is sort of a big deal. The invitation is even handwritten; I wonder why Kiy-"

"I'm sure he felt some sort of effort was needed." Vincent interrupted him, harshly. Any reference to Yuffie's family or name that fell from Cloud's mouth had been either interrupted or met with stony silence recently.

"Right." Cloud said, rolling his eyes. "Well? Should we RSVP?"

Vincent shrugged. "I don't see why anyone would want to go." He turned his attention back to his book.

Cloud frowned. "Well,_ I'm_ going." He snapped, snatching the identification cards from where Vincent had set them, on the table next to his chair. He left the room in a huff.

Vincent raised one delicate eyebrow at the other man's retreating form, but wisely said nothing.

**- - - - - **

Yuffie smiled to herself as she stitched what she hoped would be the final stitch in her obi. Her kimono was ready, and just in time. The introduction ceremony was going to be the next week, and she'd wanted to wear the garment to it.

This kimono meant something to her, just as her mother's did, but for different reasons. She'd woven the fabric that created it, and dyed it herself; she'd created the pattern, under the guidance of her teacher, and had stitched it together by hand. It was beautiful; a lovely deep blue with white and crimson patterns of bells, birds, trees, and whatever else had struck her fancy patterned over it. The obi was deep red with blue and white on it, to complement the kimono itself.

She'd also made the required undergarments, including _tabi_ socks, and had purchased a proper set of _geta_ (woodworking being a little beyond her league). If the obi passed her teacher's inspection, she'd have made her first ever outfit. She'd even made a little drawstring pouch to use as a purse out of some of the remnants of the fabric from the kimono; if she had anything to say about it, she'd look beautiful.

Her heart ached that Vincent and Cloud weren't there to celebrate this victory with her. Brushing that aside, she folded the obi over in her hands, and then set it on the mat in front of her, standing up gracefully as befitted a woman of Wutai.

She called to her master, who hurried out to inspect the final product.

"Outstanding!" She said, grinning. "You've completed it! And it is beautiful. It will look good on you and your descendants." The woman smiled at her, and Yuffie tried very hard not to smirk at the image of Kiyoshi in a woman's kimono that flitted across her mind.

The woman took in the whole outfit, which Yuffie lay out on her mat for her to inspect. She frowned a little at the _tamoto_, the sleeve pouches; the woman had tried to argue Yuffie into making the long sleeves of an unmarried, mateable woman, and Yuffie had wanted the shorter sleeves of an already-established housewife. They'd compromised and Yuffie had sleeves that were slightly shorter than a girl's but longer than those of a matriarch.

She instructed Yuffie to try on the kimono, offering to help tie the obi (a difficult task for a single person). Yuffie shook her head no and stripped to her underthings; nudity was not uncommon in Wutai and she knew that her teacher would want to inspect how Yuffie put the garment on.

Kimono-wearing was almost an art all by itself, and it was one Yuffie had learned on her mother's knee nearly a century before. Kimono were all she'd worn for the formative years of her life, being a princess. That she wanted nothing more than shorts and a T-shirt to run around in had been of no consequence until she'd ruined a perfectly good _Tetsumura_ kimono during her explorations.

With practiced ease, Yuffie shrugged into the layers of kimono underthings and the single-color under-kimono, twitching each into place and securing them before delicately putting the outer kimono on. She tied it down with a narrow piece of cording before wrapping her actual obi around her twice, flattening both breast and tummy and giving her an almost androgynous shape. She flung the excess (over a yard) over her shoulder at the back, so that it draped over her front, leaving about three feet of spare obi from the other end hanging down her backside. She tied an obi pillow to the back, bringing the cord around her stomach and tying it tightly before tucking the cording for the pillow beneath the obi that had already been secured to her stomach. Quickly, with fingers deft from years of practice, she folded the remainder of the obi around the pillow into an open-ended box shape, securing that in place with a length of pretty narrow fabric, which she guided around her waist, in the middle of the obi, and tying it into a decorative, but functional, knot at her belly.

Slowly, she turned to her master, who was staring at her, mouth agape. This was very rude, but Yuffie couldn't blame her; most girls who looked like she did hadn't the vaguest clue about how to properly wear kimono, preferring to buy the cheaply-made and already-constructed kimono knockoffs for festivals. Yuffie smiled but offered no explanation.

"Well, at least your parents did you right." The old woman said, shrugging off her surprise harshly. "This way I don't have to give you a crash course in displaying kimono." She smiled. "You've done it, child. The more you practice the faster you will get, but you are a kimono-maker now."

Yuffie's smile grew into a grin and for the first time in a long time, she was able to ignore the aching in her heart.

**- - - - - **

Yuffie inhaled. "Tightly." She instructed. Shizuko had insisted on helping her get ready for the event, due to start in several hours time. She'd blackened her hair the day before and it was sitting upon her head, pinned into place with extravagant, but beautiful, pins and combs. A small waterfall of silk cherry blossoms was falling from a curl above her left ear, and her makeup had been done an hour before. Shizuko knew a particular way to tie an obi that she insisted would look beautiful on Yuffie, and Yuffie watched with interest as the younger woman made her backside look rather like a blooming flower.

Finally she slipped her_ tabi_-covered feet into her wooden _geta_ and grabbed her drawstring purse/pouch from her nightstand, before turning and opening her arms a little for Shizuko's inspection.

"You look beautiful, Lady Kisaragi." Shizuko said, smiling at her.

"You know, Shizuko, we've been interacting with each other for almost six months." Yuffie said, smiling as she turned to inspect her reflection. She looked wholly different. "Why don't you call me Yuffie? Kiyoshi does."

Shizuko bowed her head. "I'm sorry, L...Yuffie." She said it almost shyly. "I was brought up to speak to my ...elders with respect."

Yuffie grinned. "Well, I say respect should be earned, but even if I did earn it, I'm not comfortable with you calling me Lady all the time. After all, _you're_ the Lady Kisaragi now, not me."

"But..." Shizuko's eyes widened. "Surely Kiyoshi has talked to you about staying, now that you've learned how to make kimono! He values your advice and expertise; you were trained to rule and you know what is best for our people!"

Yuffie's smile fell from her face. "Yes, he brought it up to me." She said. "I'm still considering it." She turned to Shizuko. "But surely you wouldn't like being usurped from your place as top female?"

Shizuko lowered her head demurely. She had been brought up with the old traditions of Wutai, and was one of the few women nowadays who observed the niceties that Yuffie had been raised with. However, where Shizuko actually observed them, Yuffie ignored them.

"Shizuko,_ look_ at me!" Yuffie said, exasperated. "Even if I take a place on Kiyoshi's advisory board, I will not take _your_ place. You've earned it. I don't _want_ to be Lady Kisaragi anymore. It's your title, not mine." She frowned and brushed a speck off of her obi. "So please...just call me Yuffie."

Shizuko nodded. Her step was a little lighter as she left Yuffie's presence.

Yuffie sighed. She picked up the parasol she was going to need on the continent, and followed the younger woman out of the door.

**- - - - - **

Yuffie was an oddity at this event; she was a young looking Wutaian woman in a kimono, and she was unescorted.

Kiyoshi had offered to have one of his other advisors escort her, but she refused it. "I think I've earned the right to escort myself, 'Yoshi." She said, smiling as she spoke the pet name she'd developed for him. He smiled and acceded that she indeed had.

So while Kiyoshi and Shizuko stood at the entrance to the official building on Wutai where everyone was meeting up to go to the continent, watching as the invited guests submitted their identification cards and placed their thumbs on the scanner to prove that they were who they said they were, Yuffie was enjoying a cup of hot _sake_ and some _dim sum_ assortments. No one knew who she was or that she was important, and she preferred to keep it that way.

"Did you make that kimono, or is it on loan?" A voice said from behind her. She gasped and turned.

"Cloud!" She said, a smile breaking out over her face. Then it fell and became astonishment.

Cloud had, for the occasion, tamed his headful of spikes into a long, neat ponytail, and was sporting a ceremonial men's kimono; many of the other celebrities and officials who had been invited to the party had chosen to do so as well, but Cloud was wearing it properly, and it was real kimono, rather than the cheap knockoffs that many wore.

It was a blue so deep it was almost purple with black patterning that one could only see if they looked closely. She could make out a dragon and a wolf. On any other blond it would look outlandish, but Cloud did not parade it, and wore it as if he'd been born to it. Men's obi, unlike women's, did not contrast their outfits, but rather complimented them; his was no exception, and was made out of the same sort of fabric. He wore a pair of flat _zori_ with no _tabi_ on his feet, and at his side was his old sword Yoshiyuki in a new, gleaming, enameled scabbard.

His face grew into a slow sort of smile as he realized her astonishment. "Surprised a dumb old SOLDIER reject would know how to wear kimono?"

Yuffie blinked. "Yeah, actually." She laughed. "Sorry, that was rude. But how did you learn?"

"Vincent taught me a long time ago." Cloud said, frowning at the man's name; or rather, at the reaction it caused in Yuffie. Her smile fell instantly.

"Is he here?" She asked, almost fearfully.

Cloud smirked. "Yes, actually, but good luck trying to find him. I barely recognized you; he looks so different I doubt you'll realize you're talking to him."

She raised her eyebrow, a gesture so similar to Vincent that Cloud nearly laughed.

They sat back from the crowd, talking and generally enjoying each other's company. If Yuffie glanced around occasionally, trying to get a glimpse of Vincent, wherever he may be, Cloud said nothing.

After about an hour, Kiyoshi and Shizuko came in and thanked everyone for coming. They asked everyone to follow them to the yacht that was going to carry the group to the floating continent, a two-hour boat ride away. It was a luxury yacht, constructed especially for this occasion, with a full compliment of quarters for those assembled to sleep off the wine that was coming, and a ballroom for dancing and eating. The trip there was sure to be a nice one, as it was the dinner portion of the evening.

Yuffie and Cloud sat together with Kiyoshi; Vincent was almost conspicuous in his absence.

Afterward, Yuffie cried off of dancing and wandered out to the deck, where she watched the sun slide lower toward the horizon; it was not dark, and would not be, for a few hours yet, but it was sure to be a beautiful sunset.

She leaned against the banister between her and the open sea and looked out, crossing her hands in front of her. She let out a little sigh and smiled sadly.

After about fifteen minutes of watching the ocean she was brought out of her reverie by Cloud approaching.

"I had to get out of there." He explained. "One can only take so many women begging dances before they need a breath of fresh air."

Yuffie chuckled. "You know, Cloud, most guys your age would kill to have young, gorgeous women trying to dance with them."

Cloud returned her smile and looked out at the ocean as well. "Yeah, well...you only get love once, and I've had mine."

Yuffie frowned. "Do you really think that's true, Cloud?"

"I don't know. It seems like a pretty good excuse, though."

She shook her head. "I don't think that's true. I think that as long as there's room in your heart for love, you'll find it. You're just hiding." She smiled. "You're afraid, I guess, which is pretty understandable."

Cloud looked affronted, but instead of justifying her statements, she just turned back to the water.

They were quiet for several minutes before he spoke again.

"You've aged more in this six months than you did the entire time you were gone from us before, Yuffie." Cloud said, softly. "Not, physically, but mentally. Don't loose that spark, no matter what. It's what made you you; if you didn't have it, you wouldn't be Yuffie anymore." He gave her a sad sort of smile and wandered away.

Yuffie gave no indication that she'd even noticed he left, instead turning her gaze toward the now rapidly-approaching false continent.

**- - - - - **

The entryway to the floating continent was the only part that did not have edible crops growing on it. It was a beautiful garden outside a banquet-style hall. Cherry blossoms that matched the pin behind her ear were blooming, spreading their fragrance through the air. Yuffie had her parasol open, to beat off the sun's dying rays as she looked out the window at the miles and miles and miles of corn, spinach, wheat and rice that were being harvested.

The window divided the garden from the rest of the continent, but similar windows were placed throughout – everywhere a climate change was needed. They grew food staples as well as luxuries like strawberries and melons, and several microcosms of weather and soil were kept on the continent, controlled by the now-functioning weather control device. There was a desert, a tropical paradise, farmland, and several other types of climate, all neatly plotted and organized, and enclosed in greenhouse-type plastic and glass structures. The garden was the only open-air portion of the continent, and it could be enclosed in the event of storms and strong waves. An instructional plaque near her explained all of this, but seeing as she'd been key in the final stages of development, she knew it already.

Kiyoshi explained that while there were access points scattered throughout the continent, the entire thing was designed to be run automatically and maintained only by a few key personnel. They couldn't give a tour, but visitors were invited to take a glance out the windows and familiarize themselves with the information that had been provided. The penultimate event – the first load of harvested material departing, rice bound for Wutai – had been rather pompous, and everyone had been thoroughly impressed.

There was more food and drink, both alcoholic and non, in the banquet hall, and music was being played by a live band for dancing and listening, but Yuffie preferred it here, nearly alone.

The sun slowly slipped beyond the horizon and she closed her parasol, leaning it on the ground like a cane, as she looked out to the sea.

Cloud had insisted that they dance one dance together, and she had accepted, and then after escaped back outside. She didn't feel like socializing.

She wondered if Cloud was right. Did everyone get only one love in their lives? If that was the case, she had her love, but Vincent had already had his. She had already accepted that she would never have his love, but it hurt to think about it in those terms.

Yuffie sighed and sat on one of the many benches, leaning backwards against the transparent aluminum windows and looking upward to the brightening stars.

It was only chance that she caught a glimpse of crimson out of the corner of her eye. She froze and slowly looked toward it.

It was unmistakably Vincent, but she knew now why Cloud had said she wouldn't recognize him. He, too, wore a long man's kimono, black with crimson dragons embroidered on it, and _geta_without_tabi_. His long hair had been pulled back into a knot at the back of his head, and he too wore a sword at his side. He, like Cloud, wore real kimono, and wore it correctly.

He was looking at her stonily and she smiled sadly, a nervous fluttering feeling taking over her body. She hadn't seen him since she'd left.

"I notice that your _tamoto_ do not denote either married or unmarried status." Vincent said, his eyebrow going up. "How did you explain that to your kimono maker?"

Yuffie's smile became a smirk. "I made the kimono myself, but I did get into an argument with my teacher about it. How do you know about _tamoto_?"

Vincent restrained the urge to sigh. "I told you already, Yuffie, I am half Wutaian."

"Oh, right." Yuffie tore her gaze away from him and instead looked back out to the water. The yacht was bobbing peacefully at it's dock, and a few people were already heading back to their rooms aboard it.

"So you've learned how to make kimono?" Vincent said. The way he said the word kimono made her realize that he must have been brought up in Wutai, because there was a slight accent there that she'd never noticed before. Only when he was saying Wutaian words did he stress them the way she did.

"Yes, I passed my test last week." She said, without looking at him. "I'm wearing my final."

She didn't have to turn to know that both of his eyebrows were raised now; when he spoke he sounded impressed. "You are a full kimono-maker? In only six months?"

She smiled slightly and turned back toward him. "A lot of the process is learning how kimono are worn and obi are tied, and how to make designs, which I already knew."

Vincent nodded acceptance of this fact and then they both fell silent.

Yuffie broke the silence. "Kiyoshi values my advice. He's asked me to stay in Wutai as an advisor." She said, softly.

Vincent froze.

"I'm considering it. I helped with the final stages of this place, and it felt..good, you know, to be making a difference again." She smiled. "Once a hero, always a hero, I guess. Always gotta be fighting for the greater good, and all that jazz."

Vincent didn't reply.

"And I'm...you know, considering...afterward...maybe going out on one of the colony ships." Her shoulders slumped. "I just feel like the world's sort of outgrown us. We're legends now, but legends aren't supposed to be alive when they become legends. I think a new world could use me more than this one can."

Vincent frowned and looked away from her.

"Legends die off eventually." He said, quietly. "Some day, we will be forgotten."

"I'm not sure I like that idea any better." Yuffie said. "What we did – all of us – it was huge, Vince."

He crossed his arms.

"I don't know." She said. "I just don't know. There's no manual for this sort of thing. 'How to deal with immortality.' It just doesn't exist. I liked being a hero, because I liked making a difference. But now I'm just an old woman stuck in a little girl's body, and I still want to be a hero."

"Heroes, Yuffie, are normal people who are willing to do what is right." Vincent turned to her. "One does not have to save the Planet to be a hero."

Yuffie digested that in silence.

She spoke again after several minutes. "I guess...I'm just running." She said. She smiled at him, sadly. "I guess it's sort of my thing. I run from my problems." She stood and started walking toward the yacht. "It was nice seeing you again, Vince." She stopped and turned to him. "Where is Yuuta?"

Vincent let a small smirk play on his face. "In my room on the yacht."

A smile lit her face. "Do you think I could go see him? I bet he's huge now!"

Vincent nodded and began walking toward the yacht as well. "He's gotten rather large." Yuffie giggled at this description and they both headed up the gangplank toward their rooms.

**- - - - - **

Yuuta meowed happily at the pettings Yuffie was bestowing upon him. He'd recognized her instantly, and had bounded toward her with a happy feline cry which she responded to by scooping him up in her arms and scratching him in front of his ears like he liked. She sat on Vincent's bed and cuddled the cat, no longer a kitten, who purred loudly in response.

"Oh my God, I think he's gotten even cuter." She said, tickling him under his chin. He meowed in agreement.

Vincent stood near the door watching the scene with a slight smile on his face. His heart was still racing at the concept of Yuffie leaving the planet, forever. It was not an idea that pleased him.

He walked her back to her room – which was much larger, to his chagrin – and she bid him goodnight as she opened it with the ID card.

"Still running, Yuffie?" He said, softly. He looked at the closed door in front of him and placed his hand on it softly before turning to return to his quarters.

The door opened. He froze.

"No." She said. "I'm tired of running, Vincent. But I can't do it." He turned and faced her and she continued speaking. "I can't be around you all the time. It does wonky things to my chemistry and sanity. I'm not you; I'm not a glutton for punishment. I'm not running anymore. I'm trying to keep myself from dying a little more every day because that's what happens when I wake up and see you. Okay?" She was precariously close to tears and Vincent tried to think of a way to make them stop. He could not handle it if she started crying.

"It'd be fine and dandy to say that we could still be friends, but honestly, Vincent, I can't do it. I can't wake up every morning and look at you and know I'm never going to have you. I'd rather make kimono _by hand_ for the rest of eternity." She wrinkled her nose.

A hard smile had come over his face at "Never going to have you." He looked like he'd swallowed something particularly grotesque. At this point Yuffie did dissolve into tears, collapsing to the floor with her hands over her face.

Vincent was at her side in an instant, a treacherous concerned look on his features. He put his hand on her shoulder, gently, and she brushed it away.

"I'm okay, leave me alone." She said. At least, he was pretty sure that was what she said; it was muffled, coming through sobs and her hands simultaneously.

Very carefully he picked her up and took her into her room, so that other guests wouldn't see her sobbing on the floor. He set her on her bed and she sniffled loudly.

"What's it like, Vince?" She asked, quietly, once her sobs had diminished. "What's it like to be in love? Maybe...maybe I'm wrong. Maybe this will all go away and I won't feel so fucking _horrible_ all of the time..."

He felt a twinge in his stomach and looked toward her door.

"Being in love..." He frowned and sat down next to her. He didn't know how to describe it, except that he knew without question that he had not truly loved Lucrecia. He had admired her, been obsessed with her, and of course, had been attracted to her. But love?

In comparison to Yuffie, the feelings he had for Lucrecia, as intense as they had been, were nothing.

"I think it is different for every person." He said, finally. "Cloud was willing to give anything for Tifa...and Cid was very protective of Shera..." He stopped. Why couldn't he say what he wanted to say? The words weren't coming.

"You're always there." She whispered. "At the back of my mind. Every time I do something I wonder what you'd think if I told you about it, or how you would react to news. When I'm around you...I feel like my heart is going to freaking _explode_. It's hard to _breathe_ sometimes." She shuddered. "Everyone always told me that love was amazing, and beautiful, but it hurts, Vince. It hurts really bad and I just wish everything could go back to the way it was before." She squeezed her eyes shut. "I miss it."

Vincent closed his eyes in pain. He cursed whichever God it was that had blessed him with the ability to say the right words at the right time, except in matters of the heart.

"I just wish I could make it go away." She whispered. "And go back to the way things were, you and Cloud and I. I miss you guys like crazy, but it just...hurts. It hurts too much to love you, Vincent." She looked up at him, her tearstained eyes red-rimmed.

He frowned and looked away.

She made another sobbing noise. "I...I need you to leave now, Vincent. Please."

He stiffened and turned back toward her. She looked utterly dejected.

He took a deep breath and began talking.

"Yuffie, when I told you that any man who would deny you was a fool, I only spoke the truth." He said it quietly, but it was very firm. "You are talented, beautiful, strong, and a generally all-around amazing_person_." His heart sped up. "I can be many things, Yuffie, but I am no fool."

Her breath caught and she looked up at him, a glimmer of hope in her eyes. She made a sound that was somewhere between a laugh and a sob.

"Y-You m-mean..."

Vincent was looking at the floor while he spoke. "When I heard you talking to Cloud about love this afternoon, I know you were thinking of me. Even if we only get one love in our lives, Yuffie, Lucrecia was not mine." Finally he broke his gaze away from the carpet and looked up to her.

She was beautiful, despite her recent tears. She was looking at him as if she'd never lain eyes on him before.

Before he had a chance to say or do anything she'd launched herself at him and locked her lips onto his. He felt his eyes slide closed.

Her left hand rose and touched the side of his face, gently, tentatively. This was completely at odds with what he knew of Yuffie's courtship patterns, and it told him one thing: she was incredibly nervous. Probably as nervous as he was. He felt as if his good fortune was about to disappear.

He broke the kiss and, eyes still closed, reached for her hand, which he clasped in his lightly as he leaned forward to press his forehead against hers. "I am not going anywhere, Yuffie."

"I was worried it was a dream..." She whispered. He opened his eyes; hers were still closed. "I've missed you so much...I was worried my brain made it up...that you weren't real..."

He smiled, a real genuine smile. "I'm very much real, Yuffie." His arms encircled her and drew her closer to him. "I just...don't know if you are."

She giggled, a slightly hysterical giggle that was out of sorts coming from her. "I _think_ I'm real." She looked at him, and smiled.

He leaned forward and kissed her, a much less chaste kiss than she'd blessed him with. She leaned into him, her hand snaking upward, much more confident, and untying his hair. When she was done she ran her hands through it and he leaned backwards into it.

Then he rolled her over slightly, so that they were both laying down on her bed. In the process he severed their kiss. She looked at him with a question written on her face.

He shrugged and leaned in to kiss her again. She untied his obi and pushed the kimono off of him; unlike women, men wore a minimum of underthings with their kimono. Vincent was no exception. He was wearing only a pair of boxers. He shivered slightly as the cool air of the room touched his skin, but didn't complain. In fact, he shrugged his sleeves off of his own accord.

He broke their kiss and began instead kissing a small, dainty trail down her jawline and neck, pausing to nibble at her earlobe at one point. She gasped as he reached behind her and untied her obi, a little too expertly.

She stopped him and raised her eyebrow. He simply smirked. The expression alone was enough to make her shiver.

He continued removing her kimono, taking his time. Every time a new bit of skin was exposed he paused and traced it with vague kisses, making her shudder and gasp.

Finally he'd come to the last layer and she lay in front of him in only panties and her _tabi_. These he removed slowly as well. Then he kissed her again. She reached up to run her hands through his hair again and he made a noise suspiciously like a groan.

He shifted and began kissing, licking and biting his way down to her breasts, where he continued those same ministrations, making her cry out. Smiling, he began to trail his way down to the juncture of her legs. She opened them for him and cried out when he finally got to his destination.

After what seemed like an eternity, he moved back upward, kissing her lightly with lips that tasted of her arousal. She moaned and bucked her hips.

He made quick work of his boxers, and she was confronted with his manhood, a slight bit of white moisture already growing at the tip of it. This was nothing like their hot tub interlude; he had taken charge, and it was infinitely more loving. But his exposed member brought back erotic memories nonetheless and she flushed and pushed against it with her arousal anyway.

He slowly guided himself to her entrance and let it rest there for a few moments, teasing her, before he slid in – once again, slowly. She made a noise of protest and he hushed her with loving murmurs.

Once his full length was inside her, he waited for a few moments, kissing her. Finally she hissed at him ferally and he smirked, and slowly began to move his hips. It was almost painful, how slow he was going, but it felt so good that she wondered why she'd never tried it this way before.

That was when she realized that for the first time in her life, she was not having sex, but making love. Her eyes snapped open and she looked up into Vincent's eyes; obviously, he'd just come to the same conclusion. A shudder ran down the length of his spine and he threw his head back slightly, increasing his speed by a minute margin. A gasping noise came out of his mouth.

Yuffie wrapped one leg around his, which put pressure on the white-hot button at the mouth of her arousal. She cried out and thrust her hips toward him.

In the end, he gave in to his urges and began moving in and out of her fast, pumping as hard as he could at her urgings. She came first; a fluttering in her belly alerted her to her imminent release, and then a hard wave crashed upon her and she cried out, her muscles flexing in spasms. She was almost done when he let loose with a guttural growl and froze, shuddering and tossing his head backward, hair spilling down his shoulders. She looked upward and ground down with her hips in time to set herself off again.

Vincent stayed where he was for a few seconds before carefully pulling himself out of her and rolling to her side, panting heavily. Yuffie gasped lightly and shuddered. She tried to get control of her breathing before she turned to face him.

He was looking at her with an almost happy look on his face. She'd never seen that particular expression on him before – he was content, calm, happy, and looking at her as if she were the cause of it all.

She smiled at him and reached out for his hand. He gave it willingly, and they fell asleep like that.

_Author's Notes: I've done a lot of research into making kimono and tying obi recently because I'm making a kimono for a friend of mine. Does it show:D_

_To those of you who don't know, sake is (generally) to be served either at room temperature or, preferably, hot. And Dim Sum is actually a varied set of Chinese brunch-style dishes, but I like it so I wanted to incorporate it._

_Geta are wooden platform sandals, most commonly raised from the ground only by two wooden, rectangular pegs. Zori are basically normal flip-flops. Tabi are socks with a separate big toe area, for wearing with geta and zori. Tabi are also ninja boots with a separated big toe area, but I'm referring to the socks._

_And apparently my muse has decided that Yuffie and Vincent are going to get together. Haha. I had a lot of this story all planned out and my muse decided to throw it out the window because THIS was how it was going to happen. I think I like it, though. I'm really sorry it took so long to come out; between some personal issues like work and my much-beloved cockatiel dying, and Cally's personal problems (mostly work and death as well), it took forever. And I don't even have another chapter written or planned out, so this will have to do for a while. I'm sorry!_

_Read? Review!_


	13. Some are dead, and some are living

Diamonds and Guns

**Neverending Heroes**

_**Chapter Thirteen – Some are Dead, and Some are Living**_

_There are places I'll remember__  
All my life__  
Though some have changed  
Some forever, not for better  
Some have gone  
And some remain  
All these places have their moments  
With lovers and friends  
I still can recall  
Some are dead and some are living  
In my life  
I've loved them all_

-- The Beatles, _In My Life_

This kind of waking up was something Yuffie had never before experienced in her life.

With her husband, she usually quietly woke up and snuck out of the room before he had a chance to wake and demand sex of her.

With Rufus, she'd rolled over and he'd been smiling at her, seductively, and they'd continued their marathon sex that had been briefly interrupted by a nap. And she'd never had the chance with Mike; they hadn't gone to sleep afterward, but had instead eaten a snack and parted ways.

With Vincent, however, she woke up content.

The light peeked through her curtains in the cabin, flashing over her face as the tropical breeze flew in. A shaft of light landed on her closed eyelids before the curtain was drawn in a different direction.

Yuffie's eyelashes fluttered for a moment before opening completely. She wondered briefly at the fact that there was this feeling of utter peace and happiness within her before she turned to her right.

There was Vincent. His face was against one of her pillows, as he'd fallen asleep on his side, with his good arm draped across her waist. His eyes were closed, long lashes resting on his cheeks. Occasionally they'd flutter a bit, as if he was dreaming.

His expression was lax. Yuffie didn't think she'd ever seen him look so happy – perhaps peaceful was the better word – in sleep before.

She smiled.

She thought back to nearly a century ago, when her mother had been alive, before Wutai fell to Shinra. Her mother had been braiding her hair, the day they were taking the children to the Da Chao fire caves for safekeeping.

_"Mama, what do we do if they win?" _Yuffie had asked. Despite being a mere five years old, she was very much aware of her country's struggles and her place within those struggles, as the only heir to the throne.

_"Everything will be alright in the end, dear one,"_ Yuffie's mother said, softly, patting the finished braid into place. _"If it's not alright, it's not the end."_

Yuffie didn't think she'd ever heard truer words spoken. A slight sigh escaped her lips; that minor noise woke the man sleeping next to her.

His eyes shot open and a wary look settled on his face, before he realized who was staring at him. The alert, fighting expression was replaced with one that was almost wondrous.

"Hey, sleepyhead," Yuffie whispered, reaching over and brushing a lock of hair out of his face. He blinked and slowly, a smile spread across his face. It was a foreign look on him, but Yuffie had to admit that she'd never seen a better smile in her life. He didn't beam like Aeris had, and he wasn't easygoing with his smiles like Cid had been. But it was a smile, nonetheless, and a beautiful one.

Then again, Yuffie just might have been a little bit biased. _After all, they say that love blinds..._

Vincent reached out with his human hand and touched her face, slightly, as if afraid she'd disappear.

"I'm real, I promise," Yuffie said, smiling. She captured his hand with both of hers and brought it over her heart.

Suddenly, interrupting their romantic moment, a horn blasted. Yuffie giggled, and Vincent snorted and rolled his eyes. They both sat up.

Ignoring her nudity, Yuffie stretched. Vincent didn't balk at looking at her, but his face reddened slightly when Yuffie turned toward him and smiled knowingly. He covered his embarrassment by asking a question.

"What was that for?" he asked, gesturing upward, toward the unseen horn.

"Oh, that means the ship will be leaving in ten minutes," Yuffie said, standing up. She reached for her all-to-quickly discarded kimono from the night before and began putting the various layers on. Vincent sighed and began doing the same.

"The ship is supposed to leave at nine in the morning, so I guess we can safely assume that it's 8:50 in the morning," Yuffie said, tying on the last layer of under-kimono before reaching for her beautiful silk outer garment. "They're serving breakfast in the galley at nine, so we should hurry and snag food while we can."

"I have to feed Yuuta," Vincent said.

Yuffie giggled. "We can swing by your cabin real quick before we head up. And...we should probably try to find Cloud," she said, frowning. "I wonder where he thinks we headed off to?"

"Knowing Cloud, he's probably figured it out already," Vincent replied, sighing. He tied his thin obi around his waist – properly, Yuffie noticed – and slipped his_ geta _on. Yuffie winced slightly as she bent into an awkward position to try to get her obi on correctly.

"Hey, Vince, come help me with this," she said, gasping. Vincent obligingly held her obi in place while she knotted it expertly at the back, and then expertly slipped into her _geta_. She very quickly made herself presentable in the bathroom, with the barest of makeup fixes, and a brief run-through her hair with the brush. She pulled her hair into a glossy knot at the back of her head and then went back into the room.

"Acceptable?" she asked, doing a brief twirl. Vincent smiled.

"You look beautiful, Yuffie," he said, softly. He held out his hand and she shyly accepted it, inwardly cursing herself for acting like a bashful sixteen year old again.

It soon became obvious that Vincent was always going to treat her like a lady – it seemed to be in his nature. He quietly escorted her to a seat at the breakfast area and held her chair out for her. Yuffie's inner feminist wanted to chastise him, but she was actually quite pleased when he did it.

They were halfway through breakfast when they were joined at their table by Cloud and a young, tough-looking woman with long, blonde hair. The look on Cloud's face warned them not to say anything as he quietly introduced his friends to Amariyah, whom he'd met the night previous. A slight blush on his face was all the other two needed to shut the hell up.

**- - - - - **

"So who's this _Amariyah_?" Yuffie said, gently teasing, as she stood on the deck, enjoying the warm sunlight. She nudged Cloud in the side with her elbow. "Are her intentions honorable?"

Cloud blushed, and then coughed. "You might not believe me, Yuffie, but I knew her when I was in Shinra."

Yuffie stopped and her face slackened._ "What?"_ she hissed.

Cloud fidgeted. "She was in SOLDIER, third class. I met her on a few of my patrols, back when I was a foot soldier. When she saw what was going on right before Meteor, she took off and hid herself away. But she got the same treatment that Zack and I did, so she doesn't age either."

Yuffie stopped and pondered the implications of this. "You mean...everyone who survived SOLDIER is in the _exact same condition_ we are?" She felt like she'd been punched in the gut.

"Most likely," Cloud said. He looked sheepish. "It had never occurred to me before, Yuffs...but I guess we're not as alone as we thought we were."

**- - - - - **

"There's actually quite a lot of us left, considering," Amariyah said. The four of them were in Nibelheim. The blonde woman was dangling a coffee cup between her hands; it was empty. Yuffie reached for the carafe and offered to fill it up, which Amariyah accepted.

"Considering?" Vincent asked.

"Well, yeah," Amariyah replied. "When we realized what happened, a lot of us were happy about it, because, you know, humans fear death. But as we started getting older, and watching all of our loved ones die around us...a lot of us took the easy way out."

"Suicide," Yuffie said, wrinkling her nose.

"How many affected people do you know, personally?" Cloud interjected.

Amariyah sighed and looked thoughtful. "I dunno. We don't really keep in contact with each other. It's really hard, actually. We all have a similar pattern; we move into a place for about ten years and then move on. That way people don't get too suspicious. You know, if people realized what Mako and Jenova could do they'd all want the treatment...but as you all know, the treatment itself is really hard on a person's psyche. Not everyone can handle it. It literally destroys some people."

She sighed and set the cup down on the table in front of her. "Not to mention, the world's a little overpopulated as it is. We don't need even more people laying around, consuming resources that should rightfully be going to the next generation." She sighed again. "Anyway, to answer your question, your guess is as good as mine. I know that about thirty years after Meteor, there were about a hundred of us, and some people had started suiciding. I don't know what we've dwindled down to after all these years."

Cloud looked thoughtful.

"That's horrible," Yuffie said, her voice taking on a disgusted tone. "Come on, we've survived this long. What makes them think they can't? I lost everything, and I'm still here. Look at Vincent. The man's gone through his own personal hell for most of his life."

Amariyah nodded. "Not everyone is as strong as you are, I guess," she said, wryly. "A lot of us were broke, living in the streets and in caves. And it's...it's really hard to see your own child die." The older woman glanced away, and Yuffie had the feeling she'd experienced it herself.

Yuffie could understand in a vague sort of way – but she hadn't been there when Miyavi died. She'd barely known him when she disappeared. Amariyah had probably been at her child's deathbed.

"So, the question is not how many or who," Vincent said slowly. "But rather, what do we do now?"

**- - - - - **

If Vincent and Cloud were pleasantly surprised at how much money people were willing to pay for a prime piece of real estate in the city of Nibelheim, they didn't let on. The bidding went on for two weeks, with the final offer topping out at six million gil. By then Yuffie, Vincent, Cloud and Amariyah had moved their possessions – for Amariyah and Cloud had struck up a relationship pretty early on and she'd moved in with the trio, turning them into a foursome – out of the house and into yet another storage unit. They, of course, were residing in a Lockhart Inn; this time, there were only two rooms. At Yuffie's insistence, they did get a lounge room with the hot tub. And when the _Do Not Disturb_ sign was hung from the lounge room's doorknob, you stayed _out._

When the four of them pooled their considerable resources, it amounted to quite a bit. Amariyah, unlike many of her unfortunate counterparts within the ranks of ex-SOLDIERs, had wisely invested her money 53 years ago in the company that produced the food units that were a staple in many a household. She now held a controlling interest that all but gave her ownership of the company.

The world was not informed when Free As A Bird Enterprises, the company long held by the progeny of Cid Highwind, was contracted to build yet another floating continent. This one was to be situated near the temperate equator, and was quite a bit smaller. It held a wind farm and several of the self-contained greenhouses that the first floating continent had, as well as the popular desalinization/resalinization plants that had been helping contribute to the world's freshwater supply for so long. Also included was a ranch for breeding bovines, horses and chocobos – for riding, eating, egg-bearing and other purposes. The new, bug-free version of the weather control unit from the Wutaian venture was also included. Just like the continent's sibling, all portions could be enclosed against storms and other misadventures. A fishery brought in ocean products like fish, lobsters, crabs and seaweed, and a dock allowed the continent to import things it wanted or needed, or simply to allow it's occupants to travel. A hospital had been built and a contract with the descendants of the doctor and nurse in Mideel had been negotiated. They'd be moving out next month to staff the facility.

Cid Highwind's grandson oversaw the building of the community itself, of course. A smallish sub-development of fifty homes, a park, and an assortment of empty buildings that would eventually be used for stores, restaurants and schools, was situated conveniently near the beach, but far away enough that the tides wouldn't threaten them. Shalua Highwind, of course, oversaw the development of the continent's air strip, and the newly-christened Highwind II sat pristine in her docks, waiting and watching.

It did happen, however, that only Vincent and Yuffie were there to move things into the two houses the couples had chosen for themselves, secluded in a glade of oxygen-bearing trees, away from prying eyes, on an artificial hillside resplendent in foliage and butterflies. Cloud and Amariyah had left the month prior to spread the good news.

And slowly but surely, here and there, word traveled. In Nibelheim, in Corel, in Junon, one by one, a Mako-eyed man or woman would catch a snippet of conversation, a hint of a legend. And slowly but surely, they gathered together and started traveling. _For they had been waiting._

**- - - - - **

Kiyoshi green-stamped the last of the papers and sat back, sighing happily in his chair. His wife rushed to his side.

"It is done, then?" she whispered, exultation written all over her beautiful face – a face that was still gorgeous even after fifteen years spent researching, negotiating and building.

"It is done," Kiyoshi said. "It is finished. The colonization program is complete. They leave next week."

**- - - - - **

Yuffie leaned backward on her heels, gracefully. There was not a hint of tipping back, not even in her high_ geta_. The only kimono she'd ever made graced her figure as she tilted her head back and watched the rocket and it's brothers and sisters alight into the sky.

"Let them have the next great adventure," she whispered, snaking her arm around Vincent's kimono-garbed waist and smiling. "We've had ours, now it's their turn."

"Indeed," Kiyoshi said. He was not an old man, but he had aged. Fifteen years was a long time to spend green-lighting a program. He was well into his fifties and had grandchildren of his own – the oldest of whom had just taken off on the colony ships bound for Terra, a planet that was only four light-years away from them. Long-range scans indicated that the planet had no sentient life but had breathable oxygen, drinkable water, and possibly fishable oceans. A short-term survey had been sent out six years ago and had sent back the report: all clear, send settlers.

A second group would be leaving in two weeks, for a habitable moon six light-years away. Now that the colonization program had been green-lighted, the instant an all-clear from the scouting voyages came back, preparations began. The moon's search party had sent the all clear the previous day.

A half a million people in cryostasis had just left the surface of the planet, along with a working ship crew of ten thousand. The next voyage would include a million cryogenically frozen individuals and a working crew of fifty thousand. Ten other scouting parties had been sent out, four of them with the new high-speed faster-than-light hyperspace drives. Ships had been built and were being stocked, and a waiting list a mile long for colonists was ready. The moment the go-ahead was sent out from the scouting parties, preparations were put together.

Kiyoshi and Cid Highwind III thought that if everything went according to plan and at least five of the ten scouting parties found one habitable planet, overpopulation would be solved within five years. The world's population was five billion; if the go-ahead for the Vega VI planet came through, six million people would be leaving the world next month, and even more the month after that for the Reigel subsystem, which looked to have a whopping three habitable planets.

Yuffie pondered her words on the flight home. Highwind II touched down on the Nadare subcontinent just about the time when she realized she was serious; she was happy staying right here on Gaia, with Vincent, Cloud and Amariyah. But some day...

Some day, when FTL drive was more affordable, she'd like to make a trip. Maybe after the Terra colony had been established, they'd take a vacation. They had eternity to wait.

Nadare had grown exponentially; where it had originally been just the four of them and a few non-immortals that they trusted (a few members of the Highwind, Tuesti, Wallace and Shinra families, and a few select others) on their commune, word had spread over the past decade and a half. Slowly but surely, other former SOLDIERs and a great number of Hojo's former experiments that had retained their humanity began to trickle in, asking for a place to live and work in peace.

The original sub-development had been expanded to include a hundred extra houses, as many of the immortal brought families with them. The discovery that two immortal parents passed on their immorality to their children, who would grow and then stop aging after puberty finished, was a shock at first. Even more of a shock was that those who had been treated with Jenova and Mako never hit menopause or otherwise lost the ability to procreate unless they removed the necessary organs, which often regenerated anyway. Immortal women who didn't want to have children had to resort to chemical means to do so successfully.

"It may be that some day this planet is left to the immortals while the rest of us traverse the stars," Rufus told Yuffie once, in a fit of whimsy. That the young Rufus Shinra look-alike had made his way to this continent, despite being mortal, to maintain the colony's food unit center never rubbed Vincent right. As the man was long married now and had a ten year old daughter, Vincent maintained his peace, but Rufus also knew better than to try to make a move on the gunslinger's wife – for after a year of proposals, Yuffie had finally accepted Vincent's.

As they walked to the gated homestead that Yuffie, Vincent, Cloud and Amariyah lived on, Yuffie smiled. Instead of walking to their house, she led Vincent to the small building that sat between the two homes.

It was their entertainment area; when the two couples got together to do things they came here. Vincent and Yuffie hadn't seen the inside of Amariyah and Cloud's house since the day they moved their belongings there. There was a home theater, a small library (the larger version was inside Yuffie and Vincent's house, much to Vincent's delight), a game room and a food unit.

The most important thing in the building, however, was a large white board. It had been divided into three sections at one point, but had been re-divided into four shortly after. Under each name, the phrases "To Do" and "To Learn" were carefully written in permanent marker, with a number of things written beneath each phrase in dry-erase.

A lot of things had been added and crossed out and erased over the years. For instance, Vincent had long since learned how to forge and how to play the piano, where Cloud still had not learned electrical wiring. Yuffie and Cloud had taken cooking classes together, Cloud's expertise in the subject urging Yuffie onward, while Amariyah and Vincent had taken meditation classes together. Vincent's easy manner of slipping into a meditative state had spurred Amariyah to ask the older man how he did it, and by the end of the six-month course both could meditate without any prompting whatsoever.

Today, Yuffie was crossing something off and adding something.

Carefully, she took a red dry-erase marker and crossed through "Help Kiyoshi finish the colony program." Then she took a black one and under "To do" added "Go on vacation on Terra."

Vincent chuckled.

Their board was neither alone nor unique, although it was definitely the first. Many of the immortal had seen the board and taken to keeping ones of their own. Yuffie called it the most important physical possession that her and her friends had.

"My mom used to say that to stop learning is to start dying," Yuffie would say when one questioned her on this. "She was right."

There was a sticky note on the board and Yuffie leaned over to look at it. "Oh, Vince, check it out. Amariyah went into labor while we were gone."

Vincent smiled. "Their second child will no doubt he as much of a hellion as the first. I hope they weren't expecting us to watch over Zack." The name had, oddly enough, been Amariyah's suggestion – she'd known the SOLDIER, First Class. They'd gone through training together and had been rather close. She'd been devastated when she learned of his death, and the knowledge had led her to investigate Shinra more thoroughly and eventually leave.

"No, Cloud says he left him over at Rufus' house," Yuffie said, peering at the note. "I hope this one's a girl, I know that Cloud _really_ wants to name one after Tifa...and Amariyah says she doesn't want any more kids after this one for at _least _anotherfifty years."

Yuffie chuckled at the sentiment and then picked the note off the white board and tossed it into the nearby garbage receptacle. The two of them walked back to their house in silence.

She hoped that the knowledge that Amariyah had gone into labor with her third child – her second with Cloud – wouldn't spark another argument. Vincent and her often argued over whether they should begin a family or not. Frankly, she was terrified of the idea. She'd abandoned her son all those years ago, leaving him to a beast of a husband, placing herself and her health above that of her only child. She didn't want to find out if she was the same sort of person now. She was afraid that she would be a bad mother.

Vincent didn't say anything, but she knew that he was thinking about it. For the millionth time, she wished that she could get over her Child Issues and just give in. If Vincent could get over his Lucrecia Issues and want children, shouldn't she be able to do the same?

She sighed and headed to the kitchen. Often the two of them would cook a real dinner for themselves, but she was exhausted and so they'd eat out of the food unit tonight. Rufus was careful to make sure that the meals that came through tasted delicious and were made of the freshest carbon sources, so it wasn't like it was somehow substandard. They just liked cooking with each other.

"Going to bed early tonight?" Vincent said, quietly, coming up behind her as she dialed in an order.

"Yeah," Yuffie replied, stifling a yawn. "It's been a long day, and on top of that I have field work tomorrow. I need some rest."

Vincent nodded. He had garbage tomorrow, and figured a good night's rest was in order for himself as well.

Every person on the artificial continent had to somehow earn their own living. Many were independently wealthy and it was a non-issue. However, in addition to that, people who lived on Nadare had to participate in public works at least once a week. This often involved working in the fields to help with the few non-automated things, or to collect garbage, or help file at the library, or man the wind farm turbines. The standard week on Nadare was thus a four-day workweek with two days off and one public works day. It was the price of living on Nadare; no one paid taxes, no one paid for power or water, no one paid for sewage or garbage collection. Instead, they donated their time to the government. Yuffie didn't know if such a system would work on a grand scale, but within the small, 1,000-strong community of Nadare, it was a rousing success.

There was no official leadership. Yuffie, Cloud, Vincent and Amariyah had paid for the construction and they were deferred to on many issues, but there were other things that other people were considered the "head" of. Whoever was best at it, whatever "it" was naturally looked to as the leader. For instance, a secretary who had accidentally fallen into one of Hojo's labs twenty years ago and had her immortality thrust upon her (her name was Amy) was _amazing_ at organizing time slots, and was therefore the one who generally scheduled people for their public works time. And Rufus, who was surprisingly enough, a molecular biologist, managed the food dispensers because he was good at programming the machines with the precise molecular chains it needed to take raw products and produce finished results. They did these jobs once a week, although several people helped maintain the food dispenser system when Rufus was not there. Everyone else either lived off their savings or worked at one of the many stores throughout the community.

It wasn't utopia; everyone had their spats and there were issues. But it was as close, Yuffie thought, as mankind was likely to come.

The only "official" jobs that existed were those of the one judge and four police on the entire continent. Vincent, much to Yuffie's amusement, had been chosen as the judge by the populace; every four years those who lived on Nadare voted whether to keep him in office or to elect someone else. He was resoundingly re-elected every term, because he was hard but fair. Vincent donated his time because he had no need for more money; his four policemen were all paid through a fund established from the sales of certain items that were termed Nadaran property – a certain section of the food products and whatever items craftsmen felt like donating. Nadaran baskets were among some of the best on the Planet, although no one outside Nadare knew that. The continent was still a closely-guarded secret. A cloaking technology developed by the original Cid Highwind had been employed not long after the continent came into use.

The immortal held no ill will to the mortal; it was just that those who could die couldn't possibly understand the problems of those who could not. Because they wished to live in peace, only a select few mortals were allowed onto Nadare.

Maybe some day the world really would belong to those who could not die. And then they could move freely, because everyone would understand.

But until that day, they hid...and waited.

**- - - - - **

_404 years later_

Vincent and Yuffie watched in amusement as Nanaki led his cublings on a run. At 15 years old they'd just come out of toddler-hood and were nearing adolescence; it was the first time he'd brought them here, to teach them the story of Meteor and those that died and lived saving the Planet from it. It was the fourth time he'd made this journey; his wife had borne him four litters of pups over the past 500 years.

Their eyes alit on the beasts as they hopped up the rock falls; Nanaki made one final jump and let out a resounding roar, startling a flock of geese into flight. The cubs watched the panorama in awe.

Yuffie listened as Nanaki told them the story; she loved hearing him tell it. The creature had long since become a grandfather in his own right, and had in the process become an amazing storyteller. It took all day into the evening, and only then did she and Vincent melt out of the shadows and light a fire for the group. They'd sleep under the stars that night, with Nanaki and his cubs.

"I am glad you could come," Nanaki said, touching his nose to her cheek as she hugged him. "Somehow it wouldn't seem the same without you two here."

She smiled sadly. "Yes, well, I know you wish Cloud and Amariyah could have made it, but the flight from Altair got canceled at the last minute." She leaned over into his mane. They said nothing more, simply watching the stars.

Later that night Vincent and her curled up in the double sleeping bag they always brought here when Nanaki had a litter he was introducing to the legends. He smiled as he held his wife – they'd just celebrated their 403rd wedding anniversary, and their oldest daughter had just turned 350 years old – and marveled at the wonderful life they'd built together, at the wonderful _world_ they'd built together.

"We've done good, Yuffie," he whispered. "We've done good."

Yuffie nodded. She understood.

Gaia, known throughout the Cosmos as the planet of the Immortals, could rest. She was in good hands.

_Author's Notes: Nadare is a rough translation from Japanese. It means "Avalanche." XD I thought it was a nice tribute._

_I'm really sorry this was so short. I hadn't intended on this chapter being this short – I had intended for more to happen. Amariyah was supposed to turn up and the whole more-immortal-people-out-there thing was definitely going to happen, but Amariyah and Cloud weren't going to hook up. Originally, Yuffie and Vincent's relationship was going to draw out longer and they'd meet Amariyah, but Cloud was going to lose it and commit suicide to be with Tifa. Clearly, that didn't happen; my muse had other ideas. Honestly, though, I like the way I did it. I like Cloud too much to make him suicide._

_There may be another story in this universe; who knows? I've been toying with the idea of writing a fic about Cloud's run-in with Wutaian Gypsies, mentioned last chapter. And there are a few other ideas knocking around in my brain. But for now, the story is over, at least on my end. Anyone who wants to dabble in this universe, feel free, just link to this story. XD_

_I hope everyone enjoyed Neverending Heroes. It's one of the few original ideas I've ever had within the fandom, and is quite possibly the second-best fanfic I've ever written (I don't think anything will ever replace "Diamonds and Guns" in my eyes)._

_**Also, please check my profile for an update.**_

_Read? Review!_


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